New Super Powers From the Confluent for VS Code Extension

Since General Availability in March 2025, usage of the Confluent for VS Code extension has grown rapidly on an annualized basis. At the recently concluded Microsoft Build, Confluent announced the preview of Apache Flink® support and enhanced integration with GitHub Copilot for the VS Code extension.

With this release, users can now:

• Connect to Flink compute pools on Confluent Cloud using the extension.
• Author, submit, and view results of Flink SQL statements directly within VS Code.
• Leverage GitHub Copilot more effectively, as the extension now provides tools and context and acts as a Copilot chat participant. Ask Copilot about your Confluent Cloud environment, have it set up a new Apache Kafka® project, or generate your next Flink SQL query.
• Initiate improved project scaffolding from a selected resource, with generated projects now including Schema Registry integration by default.

This VS Code extension update delivers a seamless, end-to-end developer experience from right inside the IDE that developers already love.

Experience it for yourself: Check out the demo video on YouTube and try the extension via the Marketplace.

Data Streaming Resources

• Apache Kafka 101, the best introduction to Kafka, has been updated. Watch the whole series of 11 videos and 5 hands-on exercises that are immensely helpful for developers, architects, and administrators new to Kafka.
• Confluent announced the Early Access of snapshot queries in Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink, which enables fast, batch-style queries across Kafka topics as well as Apache Iceberg™ and Delta Lake tables via Tableflow. With snapshot queries, you can now run both batch and streaming workloads on Confluent Cloud using the same Flink SQL interface.
• Confluent also announced the Open Preview of Tableflow for Delta Lake tables in Amazon Web Services (AWS). Confluent and Databricks now empower enterprises to seamlessly turn real-time Kafka data into governed, analytics-ready Delta Lake tables—accelerating AI and operational intelligence. Check out the quick start guide for more.

Links From Around the Web:

• DuckDB introduced DuckLake, which simplifies lakehouses by using a standard SQL database for all metadata—instead of complex file-based systems—while still storing data in open formats like Apache Parquet. This makes it more reliable, faster, and easier to manage. Read the DuckLake manifesto and announcement blog.
• Materialized Table is a new table type in Flink SQL, which aims to simplify both batch and stream data pipelines, providing a consistent development experience. When you specify data freshness and query when creating a materialized table, the engine automatically derives the schema for the table and creates a corresponding data refresh pipeline to achieve the specified freshness. Learn more from the docs and read the blog from Alibaba.
• Opera announced Opera Neon, a new agentic browser that rethinks the role of the browser in the coming generation of the AI agentic web. Opera browser enthusiasts can learn more here.

In-Person Meetups:

• June 21 - Hyderabad @ SID Global Solutions
• June 24 - [VIRTUAL] Cairo w/Viktor Gamov (event to be shared soon; stay tuned)
• June 25 - Toronto w/Grafana and WarpStream
• June 26 - Vilnius w/Aerospike @ HomeToGo
• July 10 - Zurich @ Mesoneer (event to be shared soon; stay tuned)
• July 15 - Mountain View w/StarTree x Alluxio x Tim Berglund (event to be shared soon; stay tuned)

Stay up to date with all Confluent-run meetup events - by copying the following link into your personal calendar platform:

https://airtable.com/app8KVpxxlmhTbfcL/shrNiipDJkCa2GBW7/iCal

(Instructions for GCal, iCal, Outlook, etc.) 

Workshop:

• Register for AI Day on June 20 in Bengaluru, India. This is an all-day in-person and virtual event for developers. Join us for AI discussions, GenAI workshops, and a hackathon with exciting prizes. Bring your ideas and turn them into a fully built, real-time AI application. Don't miss it! Confluent AI Day 2025 

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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P.S. If you want to learn more about Kafka, Flink, or Confluent Cloud, visit our developer site at Confluent Developer.