In the era of real-time data, the ability to process and analyze streaming information has become critical for businesses. Apache Kafka, a powerful distributed event streaming platform, is often at the heart of these real-time pipelines. But working with raw streams of data can be complex. This is where Streaming SQL comes in: it allows users to query and transform Kafka topics with the simplicity of SQL. 

What Is Streaming SQL?

Streaming SQL refers to the application of structured query language (SQL) to process and analyze data in motion. Unlike traditional SQL, which queries static datasets in databases, streaming SQL continuously processes data as it flows through a system. It supports operations like filtering, aggregating, joining, and windowing in real time.