Another thing I found "complex" was the Java/Scala knowledge requirement. I wanted Kafka-like functionality for a Node.js project, but my limited Java and Scala knowledge made me concerned about my ability to deal with any problems I might run into.
In other words, I could probably get everything up and running (especially with the various Kafka-in-Docker projects I found), but what happens if (when) something goes wrong?
What do you mean by "Java/Scala knowledge requirement"? I don't know much c/c++ but I use postgres just fine. There is a bunch of stuff in software ecosystem in a bunch of languages that if I had to know it all I wouldn't progress much.
In other words, I could probably get everything up and running (especially with the various Kafka-in-Docker projects I found), but what happens if (when) something goes wrong?