Schema Evolution & Compatibility Modes
Learn how Confluent Schema Registry enforces compatibility as schemas change, and how to choose backward, forward, or full compatibility safely.
Why Schemas Evolve
Data contracts change over time — you add fields, deprecate others, rename things. Schema evolution is the discipline of changing schemas without breaking existing producers and consumers.
The Compatibility Problem
Producers and consumers often deploy at different times. A new producer might emit a v2 schema while old consumers still expect v1.
Without rules, that mismatch causes deserialization failures in production.
All lessons in this course
- Why Schema Management?
- Avro & Protobuf Schemas
- Integrating Schema Registry with Kafka
- Schema Evolution & Compatibility Modes