Kappa Architecture
Kappa Architecture is a data processing architecture designed for real-time stream processing, where all data is treated as an immutable stream. It eliminates the traditional batch processing layer found in Lambda Architecture by using a single stream processing engine to handle both real-time and historical data reprocessing. This approach simplifies system design by maintaining a single codebase and data pipeline for all processing needs.
Developers should learn Kappa Architecture when building systems that require low-latency, real-time analytics, such as fraud detection, IoT monitoring, or live recommendation engines. It's particularly useful in scenarios where data consistency and simplified maintenance are priorities, as it avoids the complexity of managing separate batch and stream processing layers. Use it when you need to process continuous data streams with the ability to reprocess historical data easily.