Sessions

Kotlin: Making the Java Platform a Better Place

Wednesday 14.10 - 15.00 in: Ken Lee

Kotlin is a modern statically typed general-purpose language designed to be safe, concise, expressive and 100% Java-compatible. It is developed by JetBrains (creators of IntelliJ IDEA) and distributed under the Apache 2 License. Kotlin is compiled to Java byte code as well as JavaScript, so it can run on both client- and server-side.

This session gives an overview of the key features of Kotlin and demonstrates how the new language integrates into the existing infrastructure: from libraries to the IDE and build tools. On top of that we show how one can make Java APIs better using Kotlin, without having to alter them in any way.

The session open with an overview of the language that includes:
* Classes and primary constructors
* Extension functions
* Higher-order functions
* Null-safety and smart casts

After the overview, we demonstrate how to use Kotlin to enhance Java APIs:
* Kotlin’s extensions turn standard JDK collections into fluent data structures that can be processed in the spirit of LINQ.
* Even Swing control layout can be turned into a nice declarative code by type-safe builders implemented in Kotlin.

We conclude with a short IDE demo to show Kotlin in action.

You can read more about Kotlin at http://jetbrains.com/kotlin
And try it out at http://kotlin-demo.jetbrains.com/

Tags: Emerging languages Java