Kotlin as a first class language!
This morning my wildest dreams came true - Kotlin became a first class language for Android development! This is exciting and it firms up what I've believed since the summer of 2015. Kotlin is the best language available to write native Android apps.
It's exciting because it means Google listens.
Pressure from developers has made it clear that Kotlin is where we see the platform going. It solves so many problems common to Android app development and brings features many developers lost hope of having. Method references, null data types, flexible control flows, lambdas, extension functions. There are plenty of libraries, hacks, and work arounds, but Kotlin brings consistency. The choice to support Kotlin means it will only get better and continue to flourish.
It's exciting because Kotlin can make you faster.
After the 1-2 days ramping up you find yourself accomplishing simple tasks in a fraction of the time it would have taken in Java. Language level features reduce ambiguity, drive readability, and make code more concise. You have first class nullability and you are forced to deal with it before you ship your app. It's as if JetBrains felt the pain of developing applications in Java and wrote a language to make it better (spoiler, they did.) You can see this throughout the language as you learn to write idiomatic Kotlin. You spend less time writing boilerplate (data classes anyone?) and more time writing interesting code.
It's exciting because it's rock solid on day one.
Years of testing and iteration before Google gave the green light has lead to a language and tool set that just works. It runs in your favorite IDE. It's works on every version of Android. Let me phrase this in another way - When was the last time you got an Android developer tool that just plain works. On day one. Like right now, go get it, and ship an app on the same day it was announced -
This is the very first time and I hope this trend continues. Google doesn't need to invent everything and this proves that. They can be an amazing facilitator and still win.
Clearly I am super jazzed about this and it's should be exciting for anyone who writes Android apps. You can check out my other Kotlin posts here and be sure to keep an eye out for more.
