What Is Kotlin

Kotlin is an open-source, statistically typed programming language that’s designed to work on almost any platform, principally Android, JVM, JavaScript and Native. It’s also 100% interoperable with Java – all Java frameworks and libraries are compatible with Kotlin, so the two can co-exist. One of the hottest new programming languages, Kotlin is being prioritised by some of the world’s leading companies. Since first hitting the scene in 2016, this open-source language has quickly built a reputation as one of the key pillars to the future of development. One clear deficit of Scala is that its compile times tend to be long, something that is most obvious when you’re building a large body of Scala, such as the Spark repository, from source.

Yes, you can share UIs using Compose Multiplatform, JetBrains’ declarative UI framework based on Kotlin and Jetpack Compose. There’s also the possibility of writing new code using Kotlin, and still having older code written in Java since the two languages are fully compatible. According to the 2020 Kotlin census published by Jetbrains, over 80% of the Android developers surveyed recommend Kotlin for this purpose. Though we also see Kotlin becoming a prevalent alternative among creators and also for businesses. With its coding-friendly characteristics and constant elaboration because of its huge community, It is here to endure and improve its performance even more. This guide is here to mention all the substantial aspects to be preferred over any other option.

Why Is Kotlin Important?

A new developer combing through these might find it easier to engage with them in Java rather than converting to Kotlin. Organizations that create Android applications using Kotlin can also use those skills to manage their cloud-based resources. Kotlin is a good JVM language, easily adaptable by developers who use Java. You can start writing Java code and as you are exploring the language, you can transfer to Kotlin.

Unlike other cross-platform app development tools, Kotlin’s Multiplatform Mobile (KMM) allows you to use the capabilities native to both iOS and Android devices. With over 2.5 billion active Android users spanning over 190 countries, Kotlin is the ideal programming language for Android development. It’s more lightweight, cleaner and more concise than Java, particularly when it comes to writing data classes and callbacks. Kotlin compiles to the same byte code as Java, interoperates with Java classes in natural ways, and shares its tooling with Java.

Introduction to Android Development

Many giant firms are already utilizing the language for the same purpose, like Hexagon, Google, Gradle, etc. Kotlin is often considered easier due to its concise syntax, modern features, and seamless interoperability with Java. However, the ease of learning may vary depending on individual preferences and prior experience. Having a mobile presence is a requirement for most businesses since most people access the internet now through mobile phones. Android accounts for over 70% of the market share of mobile phones, so even if Kotlin was only for Android development, Kotlin developers would be in high demand.

If you look at GitHub (as of October 2022) and search for Android repositories, you’ll find about 50,000 that use Java, 24,000 that use Kotlin, and (ahem) 73 that use Scala. Yes, it’s possible to write Android applications in Scala, but few developers bother. It is not completely obvious from this example, but Kotlin has relaxed Java’s requirement that functions be class members.

Building Native Application In IOS 8

Kotlin is a fully-featured language that supports object-oriented programming, functional programming, and metaprogramming. Kotlin is widely used to develop server-side applications, android applications, multiplatform mobile development, and much more. It is a kind of Java with some added features; even the java libraries can also be used in the Kotlin project. Although Java is a really cool language, the developers of Kotlin focused more on simplifying the code and increasing transparency. Kotlin can be used both in native and cross-platform app development. Apps made with Kotlin can work on various operating systems, such as Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, or Linux.

• The best part about KMM is that you won’t need to introduce new programming languages to a codebase to make a cross-platform app.
• Many asynchronous mechanisms available in other languages can be implemented as libraries using Kotlin coroutines.
• This project is currently in the alpha stage but has a lot of promise.
• This includes 1.3 million active developers – people who edit code from one month to the next.
• It does this by making a null illegal for standard types, adding nullable types, and implementing shortcut notations to handle tests for null.

It also allows you to write your UI once and run it on any of the supported platforms – iOS, Android, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), and web. As we’ve already mentioned, Kotlin was first developed for the Java Virtual Machine. This means that if a device can run the JVM, Kotlin can be used on it. This is perhaps the most important benefit of them all, especially for those willing to freshen up their Java apps.

Kotlin is perhaps most often talked about as an alternative to Java, and the popularity of the language stems in a large part because of the ability to modernise projects written in Java. While it’s true that the languages are obviously similar, there are differences between them that cannot be overlooked. It embraced Kotlin before even it was declared by Google as its first-class support. The application’s user experience, as well as its usability, has been increased significantly.

The Make your Android application work on iOS step-by-step tutorial explains how to make your Android application work on iOS with a native UI. If you also want to share the UI with Compose Multiplatform, see the corresponding answer. Kotlin was originally meant as an alternative to Java and is fully kotlin development team compatible with it. This means that Kotlin can use existing Java code for updating and modernising the projects and actually expanding them, which is one of the main perks of using the language. It can utilize to construct cross-platform solutions setting up the environment for Android and iOS.

อัพเดทล่าสุด : 15 พฤศจิกายน 2023