Consumers | Apache Kafka 101 (2025 Edition)

Get started: https://cnfl.io/apache-kafka-101-learn-more | Want to read data out of Kafka topics? Learn how it works in this episode on consumers in Confluent's flagship course, Apache Kafka® 101. In this episode, you’ll learn how to use the Consumer API to connect to a Kafka cluster and read data out of its topics. Tim Berglund walks you through how to configure consumers to subscribe to specific topics, how to define key-value pairs in consumer records, and what happens when a consumer dies. All so you’re ready to get your hands on some code to really see how these components work together. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro to Client Applications: Consumers 1:13 - How to Subscribe to Topics 1:47 - No “Last” Message With Streaming Data 2:39 - Detecting New Messages to Consume 3:09 - What’s in a Consumer Record? 4:27 - Persistence: Kafka Is a Log, Not a Queue 5:04 - What If a Consumer Dies? Offset Commits 6:31 - Scaling With Consumer Groups 8:04 - Rebalancing Consumers & Summary LEARN MORE ► Take the Free Course: https://cnfl.io/apache-kafka-101-learn-more ► Confluent Developer: https://developer.confluent.io CONNECT Subscribe, if you dare: https://www.youtube.com/@ConfluentDeveloper?sub_confirmation=1 Community Slack: https://confluentcommunity.slack.com X: https://x.com/confluentinc Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/confluent GitHub: https://github.com/confluentinc Site: https://developer.confluent.io ABOUT CONFLUENT DEVELOPER Confluent Developer provides comprehensive resources for developers looking to learn about Apache Kafka®, Apache Flink®, Confluent Cloud, Confluent Platform, and any other technology related to the broader Data Streaming Platform. Content on Confluent Developer includes courses, getting started guides, topical deep-dives, patterns, tutorials, and listings of community events. Learn more at https://developer.confluent.io. #apachekafka #kafka #confluent