Introduction To Kotlin

What is Kotlin?

Kotlin is a general purpose, statically typed, and open-source programming language. It runs on JVM and can be used anywhere. It can be used to develop Android apps.

History of Kotlin

Kotlin was developed by the JetBrains team. A project was started in 2010 to develop the language and officially, first released in February 2016. Kotlin was developed under the Apache 2.0 License.

Why Kotlin?

Concise
Safe
Interoperable
Tool Friendly

Java VS Kotlin

Java

Java is one of the most liked programming languages for developers. The Java programming language is more than two decades old. Many specialists believe that Java is one of the most effective programming languages. Java is the most widely used programming language too.

Pros of Java

Simple
Object-Oriented
Platform Independent
Distributed
Secure
Allocation
Multi-threading

Cons of Java

Performance
Look and Feel
Single Paradigm Language
Memory

What Java has that Kotlin does not?

Checked Exceptions
Primitive types
Static Types
Non-private Fields
Wildcard Types
Ternary Operator

Kotlin

Kotlin is a statically-typed programming language that targets the JVM, Android, JavaScript, and Native.
Kotlin supports all major Java IDEs including IntelliJ Idea, Android Studio, Eclipse, NetBrains.

Pros of Kotlin

Back-end Development
Concise
Clear and Efficient
Maintainability
Compatibility

Cons Of Kotlin

Compilation Time
Experienced Kotlin Developers Very Rare
Official Support is not great as java
Extra Run Time

What does Kotlin have that Java does not?

Lambda Function
Extension Function
Null Safety
Smart Casts
Singletons
Range Expressions
Data Classes

Conclusion

Kotlin is quickly proving itself to be a superior programming language for mobile app development. This article was an introduction to Kotlin programming language. In the second part, we will learn about Variables, Data Types, Operators, Comments, Loop Expressions, Returns, and Jumps.

Next in this series: Kotlin Variables and Data Types