# Kafka Streams for Confluent Platform
Kafka Streams is a client library for building applications and microservices,
where the input and output data are stored in an Apache Kafka® cluster. It combines
the simplicity of writing and deploying standard Java and Scala applications
on the client side with the benefits of Kafka’s server-side
[cluster](../_glossary.md#term-Kafka-cluster) technology.
If your Kafka Streams applications use Confluent Cloud resources, you can monitor them
with Confluent Cloud Console. For more information, see
[Monitor Kafka Streams Applications in Confluent Cloud](/cloud/current/kafka-streams/monitor-kafka-streams-apps.html).
Free Video Course
: [The free Kafka Streams 101 course](https://developer.confluent.io/learn-kafka/kafka-streams/get-started/)
shows what Kafka Streams is and how to get started with it.
Quick Start Guide
: [Build your first Kafka Streams application](https://developer.confluent.io/tutorials/creating-first-apache-kafka-streams-application/confluent.html)
shows how to run a Java application that uses the Kafka Streams library by
demonstrating a simple end-to-end data pipeline powered by Kafka.
Streams Podcasts
: [Streaming Audio](https://developer.confluent.io/podcast/) is a podcast
from Confluent, the team that built Kafka. Confluent developer advocates and
guests unpack a variety of topics surrounding Kafka, [event stream](../_glossary.md#term-event-stream) processing,
and real-time data.
- [Capacity Planning Your Apache Kafka Cluster](https://developer.confluent.io/podcast/capacity-planning-your-apache-kafka-cluster/)
- [Real-Time Stream Processing with Kafka Streams ft. Bill Bejeck](https://developer.confluent.io/podcast/real-time-stream-processing-with-kafka-streams-ft-bill-bejeck)
- [Running Hundreds of Stream Processing Applications with Apache Kafka at Wise](https://developer.confluent.io/podcast/running-hundreds-of-stream-processing-applications-with-apache-kafka-at-wise)
- [Apache Kafka Fundamentals: The Concept of Streams and Tables ft. Michael Noll](https://confluent.buzzsprout.com/186154/3559354-apache-kafka-fundamentals-the-concept-of-streams-and-tables-ft-michael-noll)
- [Introducing JSON and Protobuf Support ft. David Araujo and Tushar Thole](https://confluent.buzzsprout.com/186154/3970760-introducing-json-and-protobuf-support-ft-david-araujo-and-tushar-thole)
Recommended Reading
: - Blog post: [Apache Kafka 4.2.0 Release Announcement](https://www.confluent.io/blog/apache-kafka-4-2-release/)
- Blog post: [Streams and Tables in Apache Kafka: A Primer](https://www.confluent.io/blog/kafka-streams-tables-part-1-event-streaming/)
- Blog post: [Introducing Kafka Streams: Stream Processing Made Simple](https://www.confluent.io/blog/introducing-kafka-streams-stream-processing-made-simple/)
- Course: [Kafka Streams 101](https://developer.confluent.io/learn-kafka/kafka-streams/get-started/)
- Course: [Kafka Storage and Processing Fundamentals](https://developer.confluent.io/learn/kafka-storage-and-processing/)
Screencasts
: Watch [Apache Kafka 4.2: 38 KIPs, Kafka Streams, Observability Improvements, Rebalance Protocol, and more](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yw1TzJe1Z8) on YouTube.
Watch the [Intro to Streams API](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3JKCLG3VP4) on YouTube.
## Related content
- [Kafka Streams Developer Guide](developer-guide/overview.md#streams-developer-guide)
- [Apache Kafka Clients](/kafka-clients/overview.html)
- [Apache Kafka Overview](/kafka/overview.html)
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This website includes content developed at the [Apache Software Foundation](https://www.apache.org/)
under the terms of the [Apache License v2](https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html).