Jun Rao (Co-founder, Confluent) explains what relational databases and distributed databases are, how they work, and major differences between the two. He also delves into important lessons he’s learned along the way through the transition from the relational world to the distributed world.

To be successful at a place like Confluent, he outlines three fundamental traits that a distributed systems engineer must possess, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and knowledge, care in code development, and being open-minded and collaborative. You may even find that sometimes, the people with the best answers to your problems aren't even at your company!

Originally from China, Jun moved to the U.S. for his Ph.D. and eventually landed in IBM research labs. He worked there for over 10 years before moving to LinkedIn, where Apache Kafka® was initially being developed and implemented.

EPISODE LINKS

SEASON 2
Hosted by Tim Berglund, Adi Polak and Viktor Gamov
Produced and Edited by Noelle Gallagher, Peter Furia and Nurie Mohamed
Music by Coastal Kites
Artwork by Phil Vo

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Distributed Systems Engineering with Apache Kafka ft. Jun Rao