Hello guys, if you are thinking to learn about Apache Kafka and looking for the best free resources then you have come to the right place. Earlier, I have shared best Apache Kafka courses and in this article, I am going to share best free Kafka courses which you can use to learn Apache Kafka in 2023. The list includes Kafka online courses from Udemy and Coursera and taught be experts.

Apache Kafka, the modern-day advanced analytics chatting service used by big organizations like Uber, Airbnb & much more to handle thousands of conversations routinely. It’s also one of the essential skills for Java developers and I have included in my list 22 tech skills for Java developers.

If you have already made your mind and want to learn Apache Kafka in 2023 but looking for free resources to kick start your Apache Kafka journey then don’t worry. Earlier, I have shared the best paid Apache Kafka courses.

And in this article, I am going to share the best free Apache Kafka courses. I have included both general Kafka courses as well as Apache Kafka courses for Java developers because most of my experience is with using Apache Kafka in a Java application using Spring Boot.

If you are also a Java developer then you may find my favorite Apache Kafka courses useful but even if you are not working in Java, you can check out these courses to learn Apache Kafka fundamentals. It’s one of the leading messaging solutions and many developers outside the Java ecosystem are also using Apache Kafka.

5 Free Apache Kafka Courses for Beginners in 2023

Without wasting any more of your time, here is a list of the best free online courses to learn Apache Kafka in 2023. These free courses are created by experts and trusted by thousands of developers online. I have created these courses from popular online learning websites like Udemy and Coursera.

1. Apache Kafka and Spring Boot (Consumer, Producer) [Free]

Another enriched info quality course on Udemy goes by 4.6 ratings.
As the title suggest this course will target Consumer & producer APIs. Hence, making it an intermediate-level course.

Over 21000 students are learning from this program which is created by Arbi Elezi. Kafka utilizes the method of consumer groups to let several tasks differentiate the work of absorbing & producing.

The groups can dynamically set the list of topics via Subscribe API. For a deeper understanding of the above concept, this course is an ace of a deck.

Whether your target is to create the two APIs or establish a connection between them, this program will teach you accordingly. By learning about the APIs in this course you might be able to solve a major segment of problems faced by companies in their APIs, which makes this course a valuable asset for industrial use.

Key highlights of this program

You will learn how to develop Kafka consumers & producers using Spring Boot. It takes about an hour to go through this course. More emphasized on providing practical content.

As this course is an intermediate course, the requirements are:

• Basic knowledge of Spring Boot & Apache Kafka.
• This program is best suitable for Students working on some Kafka integrated projects, some developers who require to harness a specific skill or someone who wants to explore new skills.

Course link — Apache Kafka and Spring Boot (Consumer, Producer)

2. An Introduction to Confluent Schema Registry [Free Course]

This is another great free online course to learn about Apache Kafka in 2023. This course is available on Udemy with the highest rating on the platform. With rapid advancements in technology, now, we are not only limited to organizing & analyzing symmetric data but also non-symmetric. As the no. of information resources grows, a dramatic surge in the no. of topologies has been observed.

So, for the seamless investigation stage, managing these topologies/schemas in real data is the need of time. To overcome the above situation, a platform that consists of Apache Kafka & schema registry becomes handy.

This beginner-level course is exactly going to teach you how to incorporate the required skills. Around 400 students are learning about incorporating schemas for better & efficient use of the Kafka environment.

Key highlights of this course:

• You will have a great understanding of the Confluent Schema Registry.
• Knowledge of Kafka architecture with or without topologies.
• The additional benefit is that you will see a practical demo.
• The lectures are short & completely quality information-packed.

Course link — An Introduction to Confluent Schema Registry

3. ETL and Data Pipelines with Shell, Airflow, and Kafka [Free Coursera course]

This training is offered by Coursera. With a 4.8 rating on the platform & over 3k students enrolled in this program. It is presented by IBM, the global leader in business transformation via cloud platforms & AI.

4 highly skilled tutors, who are working as data engineers by profession will guide you throughout your journey in this course. This course is for newbies as well as some working experts who want to polish their skills. The additional benefit of this program is that it can be applied to other specialization or certificate courses on this platform as well.

Key highlights of this course:

It will teach you about methods for transforming normal data into enterprise information. That includes ETL & ELT. ELT operations are used where an app transforms data on a user’s request. Storage systems & multi-dimensional info requires ETL techniques.

Moreover, you will discover the procedures for pulling info conceptually or combing collected information & integrating data into a source. By specifying modifications on input, makes it more trustworthy & contextualized to the consumers. How to construct ETL workflow with Shell scripting.

Course Link — ETL and Data Pipelines with Shell, Airflow, and Kafka

By the way, If you are planning to join multiple Coursera courses or specializations, then consider taking a Coursera Plus subscription which provides you unlimited access to their most popular courses, specialization, professional certificate, and guided projects.

4. Setup Single Node Cloudera Cluster on Google Cloud- Deploy Cloudera Hadoop, Spark & Kafka Environment [Free Udemy Course]

This is one of the best intermediate or advanced level courses you will ever discover on Udemy. This program, which has a 4.6 average rating on the site and approximately 4K students learning, concentrates on employing practical techniques to teach.

The lectures are around 1 hour and 30 minutes long, but every minute you spend in them will teach you something useful for your job or will allow you to study new topics of computer science.

This course is mostly comprised of practical information and demonstrations, so the learner will not become bored just by going over and over theory. Learning through virtual activities makes the process more interesting and meaningful.

Nowadays, the term “big data” is the most commonly used. You will be able to create your own big data engineering v-lab and work on it utilizing Kafka and other applications using this program.

Key highlights of this course

Create a big data science ecosystem & Google Cloud Platform using Kafka.
Discover how to make Cloudera certifications.
The minimum requirements are-

Having a basic understanding of Linux, Spark & Kafka will be appreciated.
The targeted audience are people who want to leverage big data clusters & cloud models using Kafka.

Course Link — Setup Single Node Cloudera Cluster on Google Cloud

5. Apache Kafka Crash Course — YouTube [FREE]

If you are looking for an Apache Kafka couse on YouTube then don’t look further then this free Apache Kafka crash course Hussein Naseer. Apache Kafka is a distributed stream processing software developed by LinkedIn and written in Scala and Java and its well explained in this free course.

Here are things you will learn in this free Kafka course:

1. Introduction of Apache Kafka
2. Kafka Broker
3. Kafka Producer
4. Kafka Consumer
5. Kafka Partitions
6. Queue vs Pub-Sub
7. Consumer Group
8. ZooKeeper
9. Coding Example
10. Kafka Pros-Cons
11. Summary

It covers almost all the important topics a developer should know aobut Kafka like Producer, Consumer, Paritions, groups etc and most importantly its completely free. You can watch this course right here as well.

6. Learn Apache Kafka for Beginners v2- Udemy [Paid Course]

Moving to the last course of the series, this one is a paid course but it is worth doing as it is filled with a good explanation of the topics and in terms of virtual projects. It is one of the top great starter programs in this domain, including over 100k learners.

To start your quest in this path, no previous information about Kafka is required. It provides a step-by-step exposure to every essential, as well as an overview of the Apache environment.

The instructor is Stephane Maarek, an AWS and Kafka Guru. According to him, Apache Kafka is highly sought-after expertise & there aren’t enough candidates to fill the available roles. By learning this, you may increase your earnings or overcome new tasks.

What this course will teach you-

• To establish your own Kafka programming ecosystem.
• You will Master every concept such as topics, breakers, etc.
• Create a produce-Consumer-based Twitter Elasticsearch.
• Improve your knowledge of Log compaction.

Course Link- Learn Apache Kafka for Beginners v2

That’s all about the best free Apache Kafka courses for Beginners and experienced developers to learn in 2023. Multi-tasking methodologies are introduced in present-day apps to boost production & cooperation among all departments of a company.

Hence, the need for real-time problem-solving techniques is increasing in greater demand.

According to a study, it is believed that there is a no. vacancy unfilled in companies for persons with knowledge of Kafka. Thus, due to this lack of availability of K-developers, their demand is rising, which makes it a great skill to learn.

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Thanks for reading this article so far. If you find these best free Apache Kafka courses for Java developers from Udemy and Coursera useful, please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions, feedback, or other fee courses to add to this list, please feel free to suggest.

P. S. — If you want to learn the Apache Kafka platform and need a hands-on, project-based resource then the Kafka fundamentals for Java developers course is a great course to start with. It’s not free but quite affordable, and you can buy it for just $10 on Udemy sales.