Software Developers and IT industry experts consider Kotlin to be a suitable Java substitute. Despite syntax incompatibility Kotlin is interoperable with Java libraries and code. Initially Kotlin was bundled with its own native libraries (Kotlin used to have its own set of libraries initially.) Mainly software developers are using Kotlin API to build Android Apps but in many ways Kotlin can also be used for iOS and MaC App development as well.
About Kotlin:
JetBrains as the development company of industry standard IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA, Appcode and PhpStorm has developed and introduced the new JVM language Kotlin in 2011 which is another object-oriented programming language.
Now many Software developers mainly consider using Kotlin instead of using fully supporting code in Java. Since 2017 Google is officially sponsoring, maintaining, and developing Kotlin for its Android platform. Kotlin also provide fair capabilities to develop even desktop apps easily without using Java!
Features of Kotlin
- Extension Functions
- Efficiency
- Minimal Runtime Crashes
- Massive Interoperability
- Safe and Reliable
- Smart Cast Function
- Low Cost of Adoption
Kotlin Usage Adoption:
Almost 3.3 million android apps were already there by the time Kotlin was adopted by Google, so why did google adopt Kotlin to change?
Now Kotlin is very much evolved by the time to develop even cross platform web, mobile, desktop apps including iOS and MAC OS as it natively supports usability for multiple platforms. Kotlin’s Mobile SDK for android and iOS apps are working as charm for developers.
Key considerations to use Kotlin:
Enhancing technical skill of team
Kotlin is being increasingly adopted by Android Developers due to a much similarity between Java codebase and Kotlin codebase that easily allow java developers to transform their skill into kotlin within a matter of few weeks only.
Cut Down on Build Time
Brands Incremental and clean build periods of 30 seconds and 75 seconds go lower by 40% and 25% respectively. Further, the number of build files does not significantly affect the reduction in build times.
Create code faster
Kotlin not only reduces the amount of coding developers need to do but also improves overall code readability. The JetBrains development team behind the language have received wide acclaim for making it concise and efficient. As the amount of code involved with a project comes down so does potential bugs in it. With Kotlin developers can let the technology take care of mundane coding activities so that they can fix their concentration on what’s essential and crucial. Kotlin makes the whole app development process simple.
Easing development problems:
Software development community created Kotlin to find a better substitute for Java and hence they produced the Kotlin language, Also the popular JetBrains IDE IntelliJ IDEA was written in Kotlin, inside out.
JetBrains did not discover Kotlin by choice but it’s a result of unsatisfactory research to fix common problem that forced JetBrains to develop a new language “Kotlin” an effective programming solution that is interoperable with Java and would work wherever developers use Java.
Of course, JetBrains did not develop a new language as a first choice. They did due research on potential alternatives and when they found that they weren’t satisfactory, the team decided to go the whole distance and come up with its own language. The aim for the development team was an effective programming solution that is interoperable with Java and would work wherever developers use Java.
Kotlin helps developers to fix common programming issues with ease such as “type of system” to fix “null pointer exceptions” specially while dealing with large APIs and codebase that uses “null”.
Need to develop where there isn’t any VM involved
With Kotlin/Native variant, developers can compile apps for platforms that is not accompanied by Virtual Machines (VM) and does not involve extra runtime environment. iOS and embedded devices are just some of the OS platforms where there is no VM. This means with the Kotlin variant developers can build for the following platforms:
- macOS (x86_64)
- iOS (arm32, arm64, simulator x86_64)
- tvOS (arm64, x86_64)
- watchOS (arm32, arm64, x86)
- Windows (mingw x86_64, x86)
- Android (arm32, arm64, x86, x86_64)
- WebAssembly (wasm32)
- Linux (x86_64, arm32, arm64, MIPS, MIPS little endian)
Other instances when Kotlin is particularly useful more so if we are talking about Android apps are:
- When you need to be sure about code safety
- When you need support in Android Jetpack and other libraries
- A mature language and programming environment
- Need interoperability with Java
Team at iSummation highly efficient to transform your idea using Kotlin for development, collaborate to create…