Why Kotlin Is The Future of Android App Development?

Are you an Android developer? Want to learn more about Kotlin and the future of Android app development? Read this blog about Kotlin and how it is the future of Android.

Ever since the development of the Android app has begun Java was Google’s official programming language. But with new trends and upcoming developmental demands, Google extended its support to another programming language called ‘Kotlin’.

Kotlin, a statically typed programming language, is capable of running on the Java virtual machine. It is an open-source, general-purpose programming language that combines both object-oriented and functional computer programming features.

Kotlin was developed in the year 2011 by a software development company called JetBrains in Russia and then was augmented by several open-source developers.

In 2017 Google announced Kotlin as the official programming language for android app development. Thus with Google itself becoming Kotlin oriented, the majority of developers moved towards adopting it. And within a short period of time, many Java apps started being rewritten in Kotlin. Just like the introduction of Swift removed the use of objective-C today Kotlin is all ready to set aside Java from the Android app development ecosystem.

The biggest advantage behind the introduction of Kotlin is that it has been developed as a solution to the problems that Android has faced over a period of time. Thus it provided answers to all the queries and issues that surfaced in Java. Kotlin provided developers various new features that Java was not able to like - interoperability, safety, clarity, and tooling support.

Let's take a look at the key benefits provided by Kotlin -

Open Source

Since 2012 Kotlin has been declared to be an open-source language under Apache 2. This means if you need to convert your Java programming files there’s no need to do all the coding again. Instead, all you need is a Java-to-Kotlin converter tool. With the use of this tool, you can easily convert your complex codes into simpler coding language. Its strength of open source makes networking strong which is not restricted to any single company.

Kotlin is precisely built to run as native code on Macs and iOS as well as compiles to JavaScript for the development of the web. Its open-source feature saving developers’ time and efforts appeared useful and important in Android app development.

IDE Support

Since 2016 when Kotlin got its official release it has gone through several stages of alpha and beta improvement testing before its final release. This means that even before its final release it was already being used in many projects. Kotlin was aimed to be practical in usage with proven features from other programming languages and top IDE support. The IDE plugin working smoothly allowed several of Java’s popular features.

More Reliable

The reason behind Kotlin came into existence is because its parent company JetBrains has specific requirements in the programming language. Thus offering practical values for its parent company which uses its own line of products.

The use of Kotlin not only provided benefits during initial conceptualization as history suggests but is also providing efficient alterations for its future success. Features like Kotlin Android Extensions, libraries like Anko, continuous library size optimizations, and build times all of these suggest JetBrains commitment towards the future development of Kotlin for Android app development. Offering more reliability to its developers the team is committed towards the release of better and improved versions of the language.

Easy to Learn

The developers of JetBrains did their best to keep Kotlin as simple and easy to navigate as possible. Mainly the idea was to develop a language similar to Java but in a more simplified and easier version.

Therefore Kotlin’s easy to learn and understanding feature leaves only a little room for developers to make errors.

Safer

One of the major distractions Java provides in the design is of the language itself which leads to extra work. This leads companies to spend more time and money on their projects. For example, in Java Nulls are the biggest error-prone issues that developers face while in Kotlin nulls do not exist unless you specifically state them in your coding.

In Kotin you cannot set any variable by default as "null". If the developer wants any variable to accept "null" they have to mark the type with a ‘?’. With this, the compiler forces the developer to check the "null" before doing anything with the variable. Thus you can easily see how Kotlin is considered a much safer option than Java.

High Compatibility

Another big advantage provided by Kotlin is that it offers great interoperability with Java. Using its advanced frameworks developers can easily any time change the project into Java. Thus developers can compile the project using both the languages - Java and Kotlin.

You can also use the features of Kotlin without changing the code of the existing project. Thus, with the emitting of Bytecode, Kotlin compiler has made it possible to make the bridge between two languages.

To Sum Up

After reading the whole blog you can very well see why it is considered to be a good fit and future of Android app development. Because of the list of the following reasons companies prefer using Kotlin over Java for their projects.

• Efficient Language

• More Productivity

• Excellent Code

• Less Runtime

• Good Performance

• Useful Libraries and

• Good Cost Saving.

Due to these reasons, developers consider Kotlin as their first choice rather than Java. With its simple and easier coding and debugging, Kotlin helps in boosting the complete development process.

If you’re interested in the development and want to become a Kotlin developer contact us. We at iPhone Development Guide have experienced Kotlin developers. If you have any queries regarding Android app development feel free to communicate. Our developers will help you provide the best of suggestions to help you make a successful decision towards your career.