Kotlin is a programming language developed for Android by JetBrains for modern multi-platform applications. It is safe, concise, easy and fun to read and write.

(Source - Codeburst.io)

Why was Kotlin Created?

The major mind behind Kotlin is JetBrains, a well-known company which mainly creates development tools for professionals.

Back in August 2011, JetBrains published a blog post to explain the reasons behind the creation of Kotlin. 

Here are the key points:

1) To increase their (JetBrains) productivity:

Once upon a time, JetBrains team were writing all of their IntelliJ-based IDEs almost entirely in Java. It took a lot of time to compile and mix with javac. The main aim was to increase productivity wherein an expressive language can be implemented. 

2) To drive sales of IntelliJ IDEA:

With the help of enterprise development frameworks and tools for Kotlin to be the part of IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate (commercial version), the motive was to increase good sales numbers. 

3) Driving a company's business by keeping trust:

JetBrains is a trustworthy company by a lot of professional developers. They wanted to drive the company's business as well as to attract more people to their approach of developing tools by increasing community awareness of JetBrains and maintaining trust.

Well, Kotlin consists of all the modern languages features which any developer would desire. For better development life and productivity, Kotlin provides you with a safe Nullability system. Also, Lambdas and Method references are available for systematic connections between various parts embedded in Apps. 

Features of Kotlin

Here are some of the important and notable features of Kotlin

1. Open-source

Kotlin is distributed under Apache License, Version 2.0. The Compiler known as Kotlin compiler, IntelliJ IDEA plugin, enhancements in regards to Java libraries and build tools all are open source.

2. Interoperable with Java and Android

It is 100% interoperable with Java and Android. This means all your current Java/Android code works seamlessly with Kotlin without any error.

In fact, the Android team announced Kotlin as a first-class language for developing Android apps. It also allows you to compile quite a few Kotlin projects to JavaScript modules.

Although Java is an amazing tool and is used by a vast number of users. However, Java is a closed language. Kotlin, on the other hand, is quite different. We can say that the JetBrains team works efficiently and notes down each and every idea and proposal from the community.  These ideas are later on used to develop the language. 

3. Concise and Expressive

Rough estimation indicates that using Kotlin allows you to cut off the lines of code by approximately 45%. Expressive, means the codes are easy to write both by humans as well as compilers who can understand it easily. 

4. Easy to Learn

One can find the influence of Java, Scala, Groovy, C#, JavaScript and Gosu in it. If one is aware of these programming languages then it is easy to learn Kotlin. Mainly if you know Java, Kotlin becomes quite simple to grasp.

5. Safe

The main purpose of Kotlin is to remove the dangers of null references from the code. In loosely typed environments, for instance, the JavaScript ecosystem, Kotlin can interoperate smoothly. Therefore, type checking occurs at compile-time as opposed to run-time, and trivial bugs are caught at an early stage.

Future Outlook of Kotlin

The further plans include the concept of a common module in Kotlin. It will allow you to develop a platform with specific functionality for multiplatform development.

And how is that possible?

For example, you are looking for a mobile app for iOS and Android. For that, you need to use Java or Kotlin programming etc for Android development, and Swift or Objective-C etc. for iOS development.

Thus, in the near future, it will be possible for you to write platform-specific code in Kotlin for Android and iOS app, in the implementation module. Apart from that, the common module consists of common API and implementation headers without any implementation. Hence, ultimately it lets you create iOS as well as Android app with Kotlin as a base code.

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