Dive into the fundamental concepts of Apache Kafka in this 11-minute conference talk from PlatformCon 2023. Explore the event-driven mindset behind the platform, starting with core concepts like events, topics, producers, and consumers. Gain insights into partitions and brokers, and learn about crucial configurations for producers and consumers that impact application behavior. Designed for beginners, this talk aims to demystify Apache Kafka and transform any apprehension into excitement. By the end, feel confident in your ability to tackle this powerful distributed event streaming platform, joining the majority of developers who are comfortable learning and working with Apache Kafka.