Kotlin Programming Language

Kotlin is a new open source programming language like Java, JavaScript, etc . It is a high level strongly statically typed language that combines functional and technical part in a same place. Currently, Kotlin targets Java and JavaScript. It runs on JVM.

Kotlin is influenced by other programming languages such as Java, Scala, Groovy, Gosu, etc . The syntax of Kotlin may not be exactly similar to JAVA, however, internally Kotlin is reliant on the existing Java Class library to produce wonderful results for the programmers . Kotlin provides interoperability, code safety, and clarity to the developers around the world.

Advantages & Disadvantages 

Following are some of the advantages of using Kotlin for your application development.

• Easy Language: Kotlin is a functional language and very easy to learn. The syntax is pretty much similar to Java, hence it is very easy to remember. Kotlin is more expressive , which makes your code more readable and understandable.
• Concise: Kotlin is based on JVM and it is a functional language. Thus, it reduce lots of boiler plate code used in other programming languages.
• Runtime and Performance: Better performance and small runtime.
• Interoperability: Kotlin is mature enough to build an interoperable application in a less complex manner.
• Brand New: Kotlin is a brand new language that gives developers a fresh start. It is not a replacement of Java, though it is developed over JVM. It is accepted as the first official language of android development. Kotlin can be defined as - Kotlin= JAVA +extra updated new features. Following are some of the disadvantages of Kotlin.
• Namespace declaration: Kotlin allows developers to declare the functions at the top level. However, whenever the same function is declared in many places of your application, then it is hard to understand which function is being called.
• No Static Declaration: Kotlin does not have usual static handling modifier like Java, which can cause some problem to the conventional Java developer

Using Kotlin for Android Development

Kotlin is a great Dt for developing Android applications, bringing all of the advantages of a modern language to the Android platform without introducing any new restrictions:

• Compatibility: Kotlin is fully compatible with JDK 6, ensuring that Kotlin applications can run on older Android devices with no issues. The Kotlin tooling is fully supported in Android Studio and compatible with the Android build system.
• Performance: A Kotlin application runs as fast as an equivalent Java one, thanks to very similar bytecode structure. With Kotlin's support for inline functions, code using lambdas often runs even faster than the same code written in Java.
• Interoperability: Kotlin is 100% interoperable with Java, allowing to use all existing Android libraries in a Kotlin application. This includes annotation processing, so databinding and Dagger work too.
• Footprint: Kotlin has a very compact runtime library, which can be further reduced through the use of ProGuard. In a real application, the Kotlin runtime adds only a few hundred methods and less than 100K to the size of the .apk Dle.
• Compilation Time: Kotlin supports eIcient incremental compilation, so while there's some additional overhead for clean builds, incremental builds are usually as fast or faster than with Java.
• Learning Curve: For a Java developer, getting started with Kotlin is very easy. The automated Java to Kotlin converter included in the Kotlin plugin helps with the Drst steps. Kotlin Koans oFer a guide through the key features of the language with a series of interactive exercises.