Kotlin is future of Android

Why Kotlin Is the Future of Android App Development?

It is an exciting time to be an Android developer. A big reason behind this excitement is the official support that Google has extended to the programming language Kotlin. Kotlin gives developers the features they asked for. It is a statically-typed programming language that can run on the Java Virtual Machine. It is an open source, general purpose and pragmatic computer programming language that combines both the object-oriented and functional programming features within it. Kotlin was developed in 2011 by the programmers of a software development company called JetBrains in Russia and was then augmented by several open source developers.

Kotlin is relevant today because of two reasons. It has been developed as a solution to the problems that Android developers have faced over a period of time. Therefore, it answers most of the main issues that surfaced in Java, providing developers with inter-operability, safety, clarity, and tooling support.

Design Challenges Faced by Kotlin

Kotlin did face its own design challenges in the development of the language. One of the first challenges that Kotlin programmers faced was that of the nullability in the type system. The solutions that came from Kotlin programmers were too much of a hassle. After several iterations, the Kotlin team came up with the platform types. This is the current version that Kotlin uses now.

Java Fixes in Kotlin

Kotlin has fixed many of the nagging issues present within the Java language. For example, the null references in Kotlin are controlled by the type system. Kotlin has proper function types and it has no raw types. The arrays in Kotlin are invariant. Kotlin also does not have checked exceptions, such as what Java has.

The Key Benefits of Adopting Kotlin

One of the reasons why organizations today are adopting Kotlin for their Android app development requirements is because it is the officially supported language for writing Android apps. But for many developers, Java has been a fairly workable language for years. They need to know of the several high impacting benefits of adopting Kotlin before they can take the plunge. Transitioning to Kotlin is one of the best decisions an organization can make. This is due to the following reasons:

1. Kotlin Offers Brevity

One of the major reasons why developers prefer Kotlin over Java is the brevity that Kotlin offers. Java seems quite verbose in comparison. Brevity ensures that there are lesser errors in code. It also means a much faster rate of production.

2. It Is Open Source

Since 2012, JetBrains declared Kotlin to be an open-source project. As an open source language, a developer can expect high-quality development, all the while getting great support from the Kotlin Slack team.

3. It Is a Mature Language With a Great IDE Support

Kotlin has gone through several stages of alpha and beta improvements before its final release. This means that even before it released officially, it was already being used in several projects. It was aimed to be practical in usage with proven features from other programming languages and a world-class IDE support. The IDE plugin works smoothly in the case of Kotlin and allows several of Java’s popular features.

4. It Provides an Easier Way to Develop Android Apps

Kotlin is a simple yet powerful language that is notches ahead of Java. While Java suffers from some rigid issues, the other programming language Scala is heavy with slow compilation time. The library required to write Android apps with Kotlin is very small and doesn’t increase the method count very much.

5. It Is a Swift Language for Android App Development

Kotlin is seamlessly integrated with Android Studio, and this makes it fast. A Kotlin project can be set up to function in less than 10 minutes, even for a first timer. Android 2.3 simply requires a plugin to integrate seamlessly with Kotlin, while Android 3.0 is fully integrated with it. Just like Java, it can work from the IDE. It can also debug easily without any hiccups. All these features work in tandem with many other things that Java is capable of doing and Kotlin replicates them well.

6. It Is Reliable Due to its Evolutionary Process

One of the reasons Kotlin came into existence is because its parent company, JetBrains, had some specific requirements from a programming language that they were going to use themselves. It has practical value for its parent company, which uses it for its own line of products. This also makes them interested in further developing it. With Google support, two innovative companies are working together towards its development.

7. It Is Critical That Developers Move Away From Becoming Obsolete

Once developers started using Kotlin, they came across the fact that using a modern language made their work processes more efficient and their minds more creative. Java has been around for ages and, in a way, has become obsolete. Using a modern language allows for a different way of thinking, which is critical for a developer as it reflects in their work. It also makes the developer more versatile as their propensity to understanding and using similar programming languages increases. All these elements add value to a developer’s profile.

8. It Is Much Safer Than Java

Kotlin is considered to be a much safer option than Java. One of the major problems with Java lies in the design of the language itself, which leads to extra work and, hence, more money and time being spent on the project. For example, nulls are the most error-prone points when working with Java. In fact, bug managers face 90 percent of the errors being the 'Null Pointer Exception.' Whereas, in Kotlin, nulls do not exist unless otherwise stated. No variable by default can be set to ‘null’ in Kotlin. If a developer wants a variable to accept ‘nulls,' he has to mark the type with a ‘?.’ From there on, the compiler will force the developer to check the ‘null’ before doing anything with the variable. Due to this, a ‘Null Pointer Exception’ does not occur in Kotlin.

9. It Is Easy to Learn

Being similar to other Java compatible languages, Kotlin is easier to learn. It is also easily understood and read by someone stranger to the language as the code is easier to understand. This, in turn, helps it keep away from errors as well. JetBrains kept it a priority to ensure that the transition from Java was simple to do, as they had to implement it for their own products. It is a language that closely resembles what a Java developer already understands. The only complex part of Kotlin is those elements that Java lacks. Kotlin opens up possibilities for developers to be more creative and solve problems differently. This also makes it fun to learn.

To Sum it Up!

Kotlin is 100 percent interoperable with Java, which means it is possible for small to large organizations to transition themselves to Kotlin. However, it needs to be a well-planned task and requires the expertise of developers and their experience in dealing with similar projects in the past. A good way to start is to start step-by-step and, thereafter, build on it. Kotlin is a developer-friendly language, and it will allow them to conceive newer solutions to regular problems.