This week’s resources are rich in code samples and demos. We’ve got an end-to-end CDC demo, an Apache Flink® SQL learning lab, and a Flink cookbook. There’s also an opportunity to contribute to Confluent CLI plugins, with a blog post outlining the reasons why you might. Then, zoom out to a big picture view with our point-to-point vs pub/sub comparison video. If you’ve only got a few minutes to learn something new, then read from our new feature: a highlighted StackOverflow post. This time, it’s about why Flink needs watermarking.

Apache Kafka® Resources:

• Give your tab-complete key a vacation with a custom CLI plugin! Bill Bejeck explains the why and how of creating plugins for Confluent’s CLI tool.
• Point-to-Point vs publish/subscribe… what are the key differences and why would you pick one over the other? Wade Waldron explains in this new video.
• Change Data Capture (CDC) is capturing database changes in realtime and sending them to a downstream application. Walk through this end-to-end demo to learn how to use CDC with Apache Kafka®.

Apache Flink® Resources:

• Did you know Reddit uses Flink stateful functions? Find out why in this Reddit post.
• Follow along in Jan Svoboda’s Flink SQL learning lab to get comfortable with Flink Tables, select statements, aggregations, time windows, and more!
• Double, double, toil and trouble… learn how to create your own Flink magic with David Anderson’s Flink cookbook of recipes.
• Flink 1.18.1 has been released! Developers now have access to log checkpoint statistics and an article on how to migrate from dataset to datastream.

A Droplet From Stack Overflow:

We loved the depth of this answer from David Anderson on why Flink needs watermarking.

Got your own favorite Stack Overflow answer related to Flink or Kafka? Send it in to devx_newsletter@confluent.io!

Terminal Tip of the Week:

Since Flink 1.18, you can specify watermarking options such as the idle-timeout on a per-query basis by using SQL hints, for example:

select ... from source_table /*+ 
OPTIONS('scan.watermark.idle-timeout'='1min') */

Links From Around the Web:

• Scroll through 106 of the cognitive principles of design
• This interactive guide from Richard Ekwonye teaches you about the math behind Bezier curves
• A dictionary of typography

In Other News:

In-person:

• In-person meetup in Bangalore, IN (Feb 3): Apache Kafka® Meetup Bangalore- Feb 2024
• In-person meetup in Gurgaon, IN (Feb 3): Apache Kafka® Meetup Gurgaon- Feb 2024
• In-person meetup in Dallas, TX (Feb 6): Apache Kafka@ Meetup Dallas-Feb 2024
• In-person meetup in Stockholm, SE (Feb 7): Apache Kafka® Q&A
• In-person meetup in Mumbai, IN (Feb 10): Apache Kafka® x Apache Flink® Meetup Mumbai- Feb 2024
• In-person meetup in Copenhagen, DK (Feb 14): Tracing Apache Kafka® and a fun IoT Use Case!
• In-person meetup in NYC (Feb 21): Kafka Survival/Windowing in Kafka Streams and Flink SQL
• In-person meetup in the Bay Area (Feb 28): Apache Kafka® Meetup in the Bay Area- Feb 2024

Hybrid:

• Current 2024 (Sep 17-18): The call for papers for Current 2024 is now open! Submit your abstracts no later than Feb 26. Speaker office hours will be held on the Confluent Community Slack on Feb 21 at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. PST.
• Kafka Summit London (March 19-20): Registration for KSL is now open! In addition, you can now see the agenda and speakers for the event.
• Kafka Summit Bangalore (May 2): Registration for KSB is expected to open soon, stay tuned for Kafka Summit, Bangalore edition!

- Hybrid meetup in Tokyo, JP (Feb 16): Apache Kafka® Meetup Japan #14

By the way…

We hope you enjoyed our curated assortment of resources! If you’d like to provide feedback, suggest ideas for content you’d like to see, or you want to submit your own resource for consideration, email us at devx_newsletter@confluent.io !

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