/Kotlin

Kotlin

What is Kotlin?

Kotlin is a general-purpose programming language that is

  • cross-platform,
  • statically typed
  • concise (using type inference)

What is it good for?

  • Android native development
    • 2019: Google endorsed as preferred language for Android app development
  • Cross-platform mobile development
    • "Write the business logic for your iOS and Android apps with less time and effort – using nothing but Kotlin" Jetbrains
  • Cross-platform library development
    • Kotlin/Native uses LLVM to compile Kotlin to static or dynamic native libraries for many platforms.
    • iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, Linux, WebAssembly
  • Server-side development
    • Kotlin is JVM compatible so it can be used on top of Java web service frameworks like Spring
  • Javascript front-end development
    • Kotlin/JS transpiles to optimally-sized, readable Javascript.
    • Statically-typed interfaces to reference DOM elements and WebGL
    • Server-side interfaces to integrate with Node.js
    • Dukat assists with conversion of TypeScript definitions to Kotlin/JS
    • Writing for React with Kotlin
  • Declarative UI for Android apps: Jetpack Compose
    • as of this writing,latest version is 0.1.0-dev16 self-described as evolving with API breaking changes expected

What does it look like?

fun main() {
    println("Hello, world!!!")
    print(factorial(10))
}

fun factorial(i: Int): Int {
    return if (i == 0 || i == 1) { i } else { i * factorial(i-1) }
}

Hello, world!!!
3628800

Some important things to know:

Where do I go to learn it?