Kotlin: Making the Java Platform a Better Place

Kotlin: Making the Java Platform a Better Place

Kotlin is a modern statically typed general-purpose language developed by JetBrains (creators of IntelliJ IDEA) and distributed under the Apache 2 License. Kotlin is focused on being a *good tool* for a wide range of development tasks: from mobile applications to enterprise software.

It compiles to Java byte code as well as JavaScript, so it can run on both client- and server-side. We prefer pragmatic design to scientific novelty and learn from existing project all the time: both their strong and weak points. The main design principles behind Kotlin are:
* 100% Java compatibility: seamlessly use Java from Kotlin and Kotlin from Java;
* Fast bytecode and fast compilation;
* Static type safety;
* Conciseness and flexibility without too much complexity.

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:
* 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.

Video Producer: http://javazone.no/