Kafka Streams in Action, Second Edition

Kafka Streams is only one part of a working event-streaming system. In Kafka Streams in Action, Second Edition, Bill Bejeck puts the stream-processing library in its wider Apache Kafka context, connecting application development with the brokers, clients, schemas, and integrations that support it.

The result is a hands-on treatment for Java developers who want to understand how Kafka’s pieces work together—and how to build, query, and test applications that respond to event data.

Start with the Kafka platform

The book first establishes the groundwork: event streaming, Kafka brokers, topics and partitions, producer and consumer clients, Schema Registry, and Kafka Connect. That wider view helps make clear where Kafka Streams fits and how data reaches an application in the first place.

Build understanding of Kafka Streams

From there, Bejeck explores developing Kafka Streams applications, working with state and the KTable API, and handling windowing and timestamps. Coverage of both the higher-level Streams APIs and the lower-level Processor API gives readers more than one way to think about stream-processing work.

Explore the surrounding tools

Further chapters take in ksqlDB, Spring Kafka, interactive queries, and testing. Together, these subjects show how stream processing relates to querying, framework integration, and the practical work of checking an application—not just writing its core logic.

A useful fit for Java developers

The book is written for Java developers and does not assume prior Kafka or stream-processing experience. Its broad coverage may also interest developers who already know Kafka Streams but want a clearer view of the surrounding Kafka ecosystem.

For readers building event-driven applications, this second edition offers a structured route from Kafka fundamentals to the components and APIs used to develop and test streaming applications.