Kotlin is a statically typed programming language, about a year old, developed by JetBrains. Although work on its development was announced back in 2011, we didn’t see the release of the first stable version until early 2016.
Use
Kotlin runs on the JVM and can also be compiled to JavaScript. Because of this, it’s mainly Java programmers who should pay it the most attention, since switching between Java and Kotlin is extremely easy. Any IDE based on IntelliJ will be able to work with Kotlin.
Kotlin focuses on strong compatibility with Java. In just a few clicks, you can convert an existing Java project completely to Kotlin, even projects with many millions of lines. You can also use any combination of Java and Kotlin files within a project. These properties also mean you can use all the frameworks and libraries available for Java.
Last but not least, at Google I/O 2017 Google announced official support for Kotlin on Android. This makes Kotlin only the third officially supported language, alongside Java and C++. With the arrival of the new Android Studio 3.0, which provides full support for Kotlin, we can look forward to new possibilities in mobile development.
Features
Null safe – the compiler systematically flags every place with the potential for a null pointer dereference. This ensures the security and stability of applications
Free syntax – type inference works everywhere, simple implementation of structures, class properties generate getters and setters in the background, functions can exist outside of classes, and many other features for fast, efficient code writing
Data annotation – the ability to generate boilerplate code in the background using annotations
Functional support – support for elements of functional programming, including Lambda functions and Map functions
And many other useful features such as operator overloading, better implementation of generic types, automatic delegation, simpler implementation of asynchronous functions, string interpolation, and much more.