Heroku recently released [a managed Apache Kafka][1] offering. As a Node.js developer, I wanted to demystify Kafka by sharing a simple yet practical use case with the many Node.js developers who are curious how this technology might be useful. At Heroku we use Kafka internally for a number of uses including data pipelines. I thought that would be a good place to start.

When it comes to actual examples, Java and Scala get all the love in the Kafka world. Of course, these are powerful languages, but I wanted to explore Kafka from the perspective of Node.js. While there are no technical limitations to using Node.js with Kafka, I was unable to find many examples of their use together in...

Many of the compelling and engaging application experiences we enjoy every day are powered by event-based systems; requesting a ride and watching its progress, communicating with a friend or large group in real time, or connecting our increasingly intelligent devices to our phones and each other. Behind the scenes, similar architectures let developers connect separate services into single systems, or process huge data streams to generate real-time insights. Together, these event-driven architectures and systems are quickly becoming a powerful complement to the relational database and app server models that have been at the core of Internet applications for over twenty years.

At Heroku, we...

We’re very excited that our Heroku colleagues Matz, Nobu and Ko1 will all be visiting from Japan soon to attend RubyConf, and it’s especially serendipitous that it is happening in such close proximity to Thanksgiving. Not only is Thanksgiving one of the few holidays that Japan and the U.S. share, it’s a holiday that brings families together to reflect on what’s been accomplished, and to share insight into the future. We've been waiting for just the right opportunity to organize a small Ruby gathering and Thanksgiving provides the perfect setting.

"I hope to see Ruby help every programmer in the world to be productive, to enjoy programming, and to be happy. That is the primary...

When we think of the concept of Waza (技) or "art and technique," it's easy to get caught up in the idea of individual mastery. It's true that works of art are often created by those with great skill, but acquiring that skill is neither solitary nor static. Generations of masters contribute to a canon and it is in that spirit that we built the Heroku platform and the Waza event. This year's Waza was no exception.

On February 28th, more than 900 attendees participated in Waza including Ruby founder Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto, Django co-creator Jacob Kaplan-Moss and Codeacademy’s Linda Liukas. True to form, we offered you a platform for experimentation and...

Baltimore, Here We Come!

Next week is RailsConf in Baltimore, and Heroku is coming out in force. There will be about a dozen of us attending sessions, manning our booth, and chatting with Rubyists, so definitely keep an eye out for us!

To make it a bit easier, here’s a quick summary of when and where we’ll be:

Monday, May 16th

• At 6pm, Ben Scofield will be part of the second annual Ignite RailsConf. He’s giving a five-minute talk on How To Be Awesome (From a Counter-Example).

Tuesday, May 17th

• The Expo Hall opens up Tuesday morning, so you’ll be able to visit the Heroku booth to find us, talk about deployment, and grab some swag. We’ll be around from...