Apache Kafka
Also written as Kafka
A distributed event-streaming platform for publishing, storing, and processing high-volume, continuous streams of data in real time — architecturally distinct from a traditional message queue like RabbitMQ, and the backbone of most real-time data pipelines.
Think of it like
Like a continuously-running news wire that keeps a full, replayable history of everything published, versus a message queue's inbox that empties once each message is read.
Junior or senior?
Junior sounds like
Says 'we used Kafka for messaging' with no further detail.
Senior sounds like
Can explain its log-based, replayable model, and whether they relied on replaying old messages.
Ask them
“What made your team choose Kafka over a traditional message queue, and did you rely on its ability to replay old messages?”