Apache Kafka in Action: From basics to production

by Anatoly Zelenin, Alexander Kropp

Apache Kafka, start to finish.

Apache Kafka in From basics to production guides you through the concepts and skills you’ll need to deploy and administer Kafka for data pipelines, event-driven applications, and other systems that process data streams from multiple sources. Authors Anatoly Zelenin and Alexander Kropp have spent years using Kafka in real-world production environments. In this guide, they reveal their hard-won expert insights to help you avoid common Kafka pitfalls and challenges.

Inside Apache Kafka in Action you’ll

• Apache Kafka from the ground up
• Achieving reliability and performance
• Troubleshooting Kafka systems
• Operations, governance, and monitoring
• Kafka use cases, patterns, and anti-patterns

Clear, concise, and practical, Apache Kafka in Action is written for IT operators, software engineers, and IT architects working with Kafka every day. Chapter by chapter, it guides you through the skills you need to deliver and maintain reliable and fault-tolerant data-driven applications.

Foreword by Adam Bellemare.

About the technology

Apache Kafka is the gold standard streaming data platform for real-time analytics, event sourcing, and stream processing. Acting as a central hub for distributed data, it enables seamless flow between producers and consumers via a publish-subscribe model. Kafka easily handles millions of events per second, and its rock-solid design ensures high fault tolerance and smooth scalability.

About the book

Apache Kafka in Action is a practical guide for IT professionals who are integrating Kafka into data-intensive applications and infrastructures. The book covers everything from Kafka fundamentals to advanced operations, with interesting visuals and real-world examples. Readers will learn to set up Kafka clusters, produce and consume messages, handle real-time streaming, and integrate Kafka into enterprise systems. This easy-to-follow book emphasizes building reliable Kafka applications and taking advantage of its distributed architecture for scalability and resilience.

What's inside

• Master Kafka’s distributed streaming capabilities
• Implement real-time data solutions
• Integrate Kafka into enterprise environments
• Build and manage Kafka applications
• Achieve fault tolerance and scalability

About the reader

For IT operators, software architects and developers. No experience with Kafka required.

About the author

Anatoly Zelenin is a Kafka expert known for workshops across Europe, especially in banking and manufacturing. Alexander Kropp specializes in Kafka and Kubernetes, contributing to cloud platform design and monitoring.

Table of Contents

Part 1
1 Introduction to Apache Kafka
2 First steps with Kafka
Part 2
3 Exploring Kafka topics and messages
4 Kafka as a distributed log
5 Reliability
6 Performance
Part 3
7 Cluster management
8 Producing and persisting messages
9 Consuming messages
10 Cleaning up messages
Part 4

Genres: Programming

368 pages, Paperback

Published June 24, 2025

Reviews

[Gilberto Taccari · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging book. As the title suggests, this manual is suitable for developers who don't know Kafka and for those who are more experienced. Readers can follow the chapters to master the technology. More skilled readers can use it to learn advanced topics and as a reference. The book is well written and, to me, it is a comprehensive guide to Kafka.

[Ganesh Swaminathan]

If you are planning to learn more about Kafka - this is a great introductory guide.
You get all the details starting from what topics and messages are.
You then get to know the components of a cluster and how to set these up.
Unique in this book is the focus on Enterprise use (as they are the major users of systems like Kafka anyway) covering things like Kafka Connect, performance and other topics like governance for Schemas.
I have tracked this book since it was an early publication (MEAP as the publisher Manning calls it) and had a chance to provide some review feedback and I think its a great starters guide to Kafka that anyone looking to learn could benefit from.

[ajay thakur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Kafka in Action. It’s a must read for architects working with today’s distributed systems. Kafka’s role as the backbone of data pipelines makes it essential knowledge. This book goes beyond the basics, helping readers understand and apply advanced features effectively. With practical reference architectures and tips throughout, it offers a complete picture. I highly recommend it.

[Mustafa Özçetin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explaining the concepts of distributed streaming platforms is a hard task. The authors do a good job at this by simplifying things, using good and comprehensible illustrations and speaking a clear language. I particularly like some generalization expressions, such as "Kafka as the central nervous system for data in a company". Whether you are a beginner or an experienced Kafka guy, there is a lot of practical and real-life info to capture. Definitely recommended.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was one of the reviewers for this book and I have to say that this one stands out from the AI generated crowd, well written, very detailed. If you're considering to use Kafka read this and Effective Kafka as well.

[Dreffed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of reading this book early on, and found the examples, pace, and style worked well for me.

It's a good guide to using Kafka, and helped me upgrade my knowledge of the eco system.

Great book

[Zorodzayi Mukuya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book for learning Kafka basics as well as the architecture. The book reads well.

[Afshin · Rating 5 out of 5]

well-structured, easy to follow, and demystifies Kafka by explaining not just how its pieces fit together, but why.

[Andres Sacco · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible way to learn Kafka, not just the basics. If you have some experience, it could be great to explore aspects that most people often overlook.

[Federico Fregosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and concise