Articles

Learn how to build a real-time "Top-K" analytics pipeline from scratch using a modern data stack. This open-source project guides you through using Apache Kafka, Apache Flink, and Streamlit to ingest, process, and visualize live data, turning a continuous stream of events into actionable insights on an interactive dashboard.

Jumpstart your journey into modern data engineering with Factor House Local. Explore pre-configured Docker environments for Kafka, Flink, Spark, and Iceberg, enhanced with enterprise-grade tools like Kpow and Flex. Our hands-on labs guide you step-by-step, from building your first Kafka client to creating a complete data lakehouse and real-time analytics system. It's the fastest way to learn, prototype, and build sophisticated data platforms.

Kpow's 94.3 release is here, transforming how you work with Kafka. Instantly query topics using plain English with our new AI-powered filtering, automatically decode any message format without manual setup, and leverage powerful new enhancements to our kJQ language. This update makes inspecting Kafka data more intuitive and powerful than ever before.

The real-time ecosystem has outgrown Kafka alone. At Current London 2025, the transition from Kafka Summit was more than a name change — it marked a shift toward streaming-first AI, system-level control, and production-ready Flink. Here's what Factor House saw and learned on the ground.

The EU Data Act takes effect in September 2025, introducing major implications for teams running Kafka. This article explores what the Act means for data streaming engineers, and how Kpow can help ensure compliance — from user data access to audit logging and secure interoperability.

Introducing two new open sources Clojure UI libraries by Factor House.

HSX and RFX are drop-replacements for Reagent and Re-Frame, allowing us to migrate to React 19 while maintaining a familiar developer experience with Hiccup and similar data-driven event model.

Discover how our 94.1 release has streamlined DockerHub, Helm Charts, and AWS Marketplace deployments!

2025 is a pivotal moment at Factor House (formally Operatr.IO). We've announced our fundraise and have much more to announce about our roadmap this year. This is why we think that now is the perfect time to do a bit of spring cleaning and retire the io.operatr artifacts for good.

At Factor House, delivering reliable software is at the heart of everything we do. A key aspect of this commitment lies in our approach to managing Java compatibility. This blog post outlines our current release process and future plans for evolving Java support, including our approach to deprecating older versions in a way that respects the needs of diverse customer bases.

With our funding announcement and the upcoming launch of the Factor Platform, we know some of our existing customers might be wondering: What does this mean for Kpow and Flex? Will we be forced to upgrade? Will prices spike?

Keep one thing in mind - at Factor House we're here for engineers.