What is the difference between Kafka's @KafkaListener and manual polling?

@KafkaListener (Spring Kafka annotation) creates a managed listener container that automatically polls the Kafka consumer in a background thread. The framework handles thread management, error handling, retry, and offset commit. Manual polling requires you to create a KafkaConsumer, call consumer.poll() in your own loop, handle exceptions, and commit offsets yourself. @KafkaListener is strongly preferred for application code. Manual polling is used when you need precise control (e.g., batch processing tools, custom error handling).

Expected key concepts: @KafkaListener, listener container, background thread, automatic polling, manual polling, KafkaConsumer, consumer.poll, offset commit, Spring Kafka