Why Learn Kotlin
WHAT IS KOTLIN?
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Kotlin is developed by JetBrains, the company behind the IntelliJ IDE and other development tools. They designed Kotlin to be 100% interoperable with Java, meaning that you can use any Java libraries and frameworks in Kotlin, and vice versa. Keep this in mind, as we will make use of this interoperability throughout the course.WHAT CAN I USE KOTLIN FOR?
As previously mentioned, you can use Kotlin on any platform. Currently, it’s most prominent for Android app development. However, its usage for developing server-side applications for the JVM is increasing.
Additionally, it can be used to write web applications by transpiling to JavaScript. Kotlin then lets you use popular libraries and frameworks such as React and VueJS.
It’s useful to know about the corresponding sub-projects in case you encounter them:
Kotlin/JVM: lets you write JVM applications by transpiling to Java bytecode (e.g., Android development, Spring services, desktop applications)
Kotlin/JS: lets you write web applications by transpiling to JavaScript (e.g., React apps, and Vanilla JS apps)
Kotlin/Native: lets you write applications for any target platform such as embedded devices or iOS (e.g., iOS apps, microcontroller programming)
As a side note, Kotlin supports multi-platform application development, which enables you to share code between apps for different platforms. The most obvious use case is to share core functionality between your Kotlin Android app and your Kotlin iOS app.
WHO USE KOTLIN?
By now, Kotlin is used by too many large companies to name them all. But just to convince you that Kotlin is used in production by some of the largest tech companies in the world, here’s a selection of them:
Google, Netflix, Uber.
WHY LEARN KOTLIN?
Personally, learning Kotlin has taught me a lot about language design and some of the shortcomings of Java that I wasn’t aware of previously. This was back in 2015 before Kotlin version 1.0 was out. Therefore, it can be a great way to learn about modern programming language features that you will encounter in other languages as well, such as TypeScript, Scala, Go or Rust.
Apart from this, there are many companies actively looking for Kotlin developers, especially in the Android development space. So having experience in Kotlin can give you an edge in the interview process.
But even without the goal of landing a Kotlin developer job, learning the language and its concepts will allow you to quickly master other modern languages such as TypeScript, Scala, and Swift because they share many language concepts.
Kotlin principles and goals
Pragmatism is crucial because Kotlin is for large-scale enterprise software development. JetBrains use it themselves to develop their IDEs. Thus, Kotlin incorporates industry feedback and addresses issues of large-scale software development.
Safety aims to prevent common software bugs by design. This is aided by several language features such as nullable types (to prevent null pointer exceptions) and by nudging you towards best practices such as designing for inheritance.
Interoperability with Java is a major selling point of Kotlin and a necessary base for its widespread adoption in the JVM world. Interoperability allows Kotlin and Java to be used side by side, including the use of Java libraries or frameworks from Kotlin. For instance, the Kotlin standard library interoperates with Java by reusing the Java Collections API. Similarly, it interoperates with JavaScript in the context of Kotlin/JS.
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As previously mentioned, you can use Kotlin on any platform. Currently, it’s most prominent for Android app development. However, its usage for developing server-side applications for the JVM is increasing.
Additionally, it can be used to write web applications by transpiling to JavaScript. Kotlin then lets you use popular libraries and frameworks such as React and VueJS.
It’s useful to know about the corresponding sub-projects in case you encounter them:
Kotlin/JVM: lets you write JVM applications by transpiling to Java bytecode (e.g., Android development, Spring services, desktop applications)
Kotlin/JS: lets you write web applications by transpiling to JavaScript (e.g., React apps, and Vanilla JS apps)
Kotlin/Native: lets you write applications for any target platform such as embedded devices or iOS (e.g., iOS apps, microcontroller programming)
As a side note, Kotlin supports multi-platform application development, which enables you to share code between apps for different platforms. The most obvious use case is to share core functionality between your Kotlin Android app and your Kotlin iOS app.
By now, Kotlin is used by too many large companies to name them all. But just to convince you that Kotlin is used in production by some of the largest tech companies in the world, here’s a selection of them:
Google, Netflix, Uber.
WHY LEARN KOTLIN?
Personally, learning Kotlin has taught me a lot about language design and some of the shortcomings of Java that I wasn’t aware of previously. This was back in 2015 before Kotlin version 1.0 was out. Therefore, it can be a great way to learn about modern programming language features that you will encounter in other languages as well, such as TypeScript, Scala, Go or Rust.
Apart from this, there are many companies actively looking for Kotlin developers, especially in the Android development space. So having experience in Kotlin can give you an edge in the interview process.
But even without the goal of landing a Kotlin developer job, learning the language and its concepts will allow you to quickly master other modern languages such as TypeScript, Scala, and Swift because they share many language concepts.
Kotlin principles and goals
Pragmatism is crucial because Kotlin is for large-scale enterprise software development. JetBrains use it themselves to develop their IDEs. Thus, Kotlin incorporates industry feedback and addresses issues of large-scale software development.
Safety aims to prevent common software bugs by design. This is aided by several language features such as nullable types (to prevent null pointer exceptions) and by nudging you towards best practices such as designing for inheritance.
Interoperability with Java is a major selling point of Kotlin and a necessary base for its widespread adoption in the JVM world. Interoperability allows Kotlin and Java to be used side by side, including the use of Java libraries or frameworks from Kotlin. For instance, the Kotlin standard library interoperates with Java by reusing the Java Collections API. Similarly, it interoperates with JavaScript in the context of Kotlin/JS.
Kotlin is the best
ReplyDeleteThank you! its really great
DeleteI prefer Kotlin to Java
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the A team
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