Kotlin as a well-known programming language for developing Android applications has become popular among businessmen. As we know the big famous companies Google, Amazon, Netflix, Pinterest, Uber, and others use the Kotlin programming language for their android applications. Is there a secret behind all this? Let's find out why in this article.
What is Kotlin?
Kotlin is a free, open-source, statically typed "pragmatic" programming language that mixes object-oriented and functional programming capabilities. It was first created for the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) and Android. Interoperability, safety, clarity, and tooling support are all important factors.
7 Secrets From Big Company About Kotlin
Kotlin is a Better Java
Kotlin is a great choice for Android development, not only because it provides a way to interoperate with Java, but also because it can do things that Java cannot. For example, you can define properties in Kotlin without defining a getter or setter. This means less boilerplate and more readable code. Additionally, Kotlin has features that make code more concise and readable compared to Java (companion objects, scope functions).
What does this mean for you? The upside is that your app will compile faster and be faster at runtime. The downside is that your code will be harder to debug since there are no null pointer exceptions when you reference null values like in Java.
Interoperability with Java
One of the best things about Kotlin is that it's 100% interoperable with Java. What this means is you have complete access to all existing Java frameworks, libraries, and tools and you can simply start using them for your new Kotlin projects. Like, for instance, you can use the Spring Framework in your Kotlin project—and also use your old Java code and call it from Kotlin code. This is possible because all the Java code is converted to the corresponding JVM (Java Virtual Machine) bytecode when built and then runs as usual. There's no extra overhead, no additional libraries, and no extra configuration needed! Isn't this cool?
No Need to Rewrite your App in Kotlin
There are plenty of reasons why you might want to use Kotlin. The biggest one is its interoperability with Java.
Kotlin's interoperability with Java has been a big selling point since it was first announced back in 2011 (and even earlier when it was released as a Google Summer of Code project). Starting with Android's Marshmallow release, 100% Java-interoperable parts of Kotlin were added to the official release of Android, so for existing apps, there can be no need to rewrite your app in Kotlin.
As Kotlin is an expressive language and very close in feel to Java, anyone familiar with Java will find it easy to learn how to code using Kotlin. Many libraries have been written specifically for Kotlin which are fully compatible and interoperable with those written for Java. For example, the popular Retrofit library from Square has been ported from Java to Kotlin and is fully compatible there too.
Safer Code
Kotlin is a safer language than Java because it eliminates whole classes of errors such as null pointer exceptions. In Kotlin, all types are non-nullable by default, which means that if you want to allow for null values in your data structure, you need to explicitly declare them. This protects you from accidental null pointer exceptions when interacting with a variable that could be null.
Kotlin's inference system also allows it to remove any typecasts that are required in Java. For example, if you're using view binding and you want the text property of an EditText object in your layout file, Kotlin can infer its type without forcing you to write down View->EditText->getText().
Kotlin uses Elvis operators (?:) which allow us to set defaults in case our variable or data structure is null without needing tedious if/else statements. It's also possible to reduce much of the type checking we're doing with instances of operators and casting into single lines using smart casts.
Finally, Kotlin has coroutines that allow us to write more concise code and eliminate the callback hell we often run into when programming asynchronous code.
Getting Started is Easy, No Compilation Overhead
When it comes to getting started with Kotlin, the learning curve is much shallower than in similar JVM languages. If you've ever tried to use Clojure, you'll remember the hours of frustration when attempting to get a working environment set up.
In contrast, Kotlin can be run simply by entering one line into your terminal (no big deal). Even better: if you have an existing Java project, you don't need to stop what you're doing and start again—Kotlin is fully interoperable with Java and can be used seamlessly in the same project.
And in terms of runtime overhead, Kotlin has a much smaller library size than Java (thanks to its heavy usage of smart casts and type inference). Some developers have even claimed that its runtime overhead is close to being nonexistent compared with other JVM languages.
Faster Development Time
Kotlin makes it possible to write modern Android apps with less code, better tooling in IntelliJ, and easier testing.
- Because Kotlin allows you to do more with less code, it's a great language for beginners.
- A constructor is automatically generated when you create variables. This means there's no need to use the new keyword, which can make things confusing for beginners coming from other languages.
- The default visibility modifier is public instead of private. This prevents you from accidentally making any classes or methods inaccessible outside your package or module that may be useful later on. But don't worry about having extraneous public functions because IntelliJ will warn you if anything becomes unused after some time.
Smaller Runtime Library
- Kotlin's standard library is smaller than other languages, allowing you to keep your codebase small.
- Kotlin also has no runtime overhead, so there are no concerns about Kotlin code slowing down the execution of your app.
- When using Kotlin, developers can write more concise code that reduces the amount of boilerplate required.
- All of these things mean that you can use fewer lines of code to deliver a better user experience with faster performance and a smaller app size.
Summary
The language can be thought of as a better Java, but that doesn't convey the full picture. Kotlin is a language that improves upon Java in every way. Let's take a seat to explore your project requires a newer version of the Kotlin.
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