Tomasz introduced Kotlin development on Android. To inform you: Kotlin could be a new artificial language developed by Jetbrains, the corporate behind one among the foremost standard Java days, IntelliJ plan. Like Java, Kotlin could be an all-purpose language. Since it complies with the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) bytecode, it is used side-by-side with Java, and it doesn’t accompany a performance overhead.
In this article, I will explain the top features of kotlin for Android development.
1) Kotlin is open source and efficient
The first thing you should know about kotlin is it is an open-source language and easy to use. It reduced the length of the code lines to a minimum as compared to Java code. Kotlin also provides a tool for using which, developers can convert existing Java codeIn terms of learning the language and coding an app, Kotlin helps to do things faster.
2) Kotlin Support for Interoperability with Java
The classes written in Kotlin language can be used in Java and vice versa.so, it will be easy for developers to adopt the best features from java and kotlin.
For Example, If we create a Pojo/Model class in Kotlin and use it in Java activity in Android then it will not create an issue.
Kotlin Class:
class UserData {
var fName: String? = null
var lName: String? = null
}
Java Activity :
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
UserData data = new UserData();
Log.v("first Name:"+data.fName);}}
3) Lazy Loading feature
Fast Loading speed is necessary for every app development. Kotlin comes with a lazy loading feature. The lazy loading feature is basically. While using Kotlin for Android development, will help you minimize the start time for the app. With the lazy-loading feature, Kotlin for Android developers can load the only useful and necessary resources into the main memory.
A lazy-loading feature can just give priority to the main resources and keep the load in the main memory for faster loading while keeping other resources in secondary memories.
4) Null Safety in Kotlin
The big mistake null pointer exception can easily be avoided with kotlin using? operator.
For example :
val num: Int? = null
In the code below the second line will be executed only if the number is not null. For that, You can use the Elvis operator. Which will look like this (?:) :
For an example :
val num Int? = null
val numberInString = num?.toString() ?: "Num is null"
With !! operator you can also get a NullPointerException thrown the same way as in Java . Below code will throw a NullPointerException:
For an example :
val num: Int? = null
num!!.toString()
5) Extension Functions
Extension Function is also called the Standard Library Functions by Kotlin developers. This important feature helps developers in many ways.
To declare a function, we need to prefix its name with ait’s receiver type,
For an example :
fun MutableList<Int>.swap(digit 1: Int, digit2: Int) {
val tmpVar = this[digit 1] // 'this' corresponds to the list
this[digit 1] = this[digit2]
this[digit2] = tmpVar
}
6) Data Classes in Kotlin
It is a most common thing in java to create a model or POJO class with the setters and getters but with kotlin, all need to do is just add data in front of the class and that will become a model or POJO class.in kotlin no need for getter and setter, you can directly access their members.
Kotlin Class:
class UserData {
var fName: String? = null
var lName: String? = null
}
Java Class:
public class UserData {
private String fName;
private String lName;
public String getFName() {
return fName;
}
public void setFName(String firstName) {
this.fName = firstName;
}
public String getLName() {
return lName;
}
public void setLastName(String lastName) {
this.lName = lastName;
}
}
Conclusion
Now you can realize why kotlin has more and more popularity. To Conclude, Kotlin offers you the ability to save time for writing android applications compared to java. It is still a new programming language, but in my opinion, it is now mature enough to be used for building production apps.
Kotlin’s benefits:
- It’s supported by Android studio excellently.
- It is easy to transform an existing Java project into a Kotlin project.
- Java and Kotlin code may be used in the same project.
- Very large community for support and contribution.
- It provides support in Android Jetpack and also in other libraries.
- Less code compared to java and less complexity.
- Easy to learn for java developers.
- It’s compatible with java code.
- Kotlin is a mature language and it provides consistent support.
Jignen Pandya
Vice President at Expert App Devs
Responsible for creating a sales funnel, attracting top-of-the-funnel customers, and converting the target market.
