Encoding & Schema Evolution

Overview

Build a backward-compatible data contract flow using event streams and a schema control plane.

Distributed systems fail when producers and consumers evolve independently without contract discipline.

You will build 6 architecture steps that model production dependencies.

You will run 1 failure experiment to observe bottlenecks and recovery behavior.

Success target: Versioned producers and consumers operate concurrently without breaking payload compatibility.

Learning Objectives

• Can explain contract-first evolution with concrete components
• Can defend retention and replay windows in interview tradeoffs
• Can separate producer and consumer release cadence safely

Prerequisites

• Topic Hub: backward compatibility
• Chapter 21: Encoding & Schema Evolution
• Prior Lab: Event-Driven Architecture with Kafka

Experiments

1. Cut event retention so consumers cannot replay safely