Step Snap 1: [Kafka Output Record Value Formats Explained]

In Kafka, when configuring a Datagen Source Connector or any other data-producing source, the output record value format determines how messages are structured when they are published to Kafka topics. Different formats have different use cases, compatibility, and serialization efficiency. Below are the four main types in your configuration:

1. AVRO (Apache Avro)

Overview:

• Avro is a compact, fast, and binary-based data serialization format.
• It is widely used in Kafka and Confluent Schema Registry because it supports schema evolution.

Advantages:

✅ Efficient & Compact – Uses a binary format, making it more storage-efficient than JSON.

✅ Schema Evolution – Allows adding/removing fields without breaking consumers.

✅ Cross-language Support – Can be used in multiple programming languages.

Kafka Integration:

• Works well with Kafka Schema Registry, which helps manage Avro schemas centrally.
• Typically used in enterprise data pipelines where schema evolution is important.

Use Case:

🔹 Ideal for large-scale event-driven architectures, log analytics, and real-time data processing where efficiency matters.

2. JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

Overview:

• JSON is a human-readable, text-based format.
• It is widely used in web applications and APIs because of its simplicity.