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Kotlin 1.3.50 Dethroning the Java Dominance on Mobile Apps

Dominance of java over the mobile app universe is not unknown and most of the applications running on smartphones are being developed on the Java platform. Kotlin is the new frontier in mobile app development. It was developed by YouTrack, JetBrains, and numerous other IDE solutions, this open-source language that created a buzz worldwide.

The cross-platform support has been an advantage too for Kotlin users and with Kotlin 1.3.50, Kotlin introduced a Java to Kotlin converter that just made it one of the most important programming languages now on the Android Platform. Even Google announced it as their most preferred programming language in 2017 when it extended further support to Kotlin through Android Studio. Then last year Google created a cloud platform for Kotlin, teaming up with the creators of Kotlin-Jetbrains

Top Features of Kotlin 1.3.50:

1.Time and Duration Measurement API:

Kotlin introduced an experimental time and duration measurement API that is An attempt to include measuring code block execution time, enabling typed API for passing duration values, noting time elapsed from a particular point, and noting time remaining to a future point.

According to GitHub, this experimental proposal is for introduction of following APIs into the common Kotlin Standard Library:

  1. The class “Duration” – An API to show the duration of the time interval between two instants of time.
  2. The enum class “DurationUnit” – It lists the units in which duration is measured.
  3. The functions “measuretime” and “measureTimedValue” –  allows measuring the execution time of a code block.

Java to Kotlin Converter:

JetBrains introduced a separate plugin for debugging Kotlin/Native code in IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate through this update. Kotlin compiler is capable of converting Kotlin code to Java bytecode and many more domains. Developers can code in Kotlin for any of the web frameworks, where the Kotlin/Javascript plugin converts Kotlin code top Javascript.

The same applies to the iOS application code in Kotlin. Kotlin/Native facilitates server-side development with spring/node.js to front-end development in Android/iOS/Web. The new converter tries to deduce the nullability of Java type codes more correctly. The updated convertor aims at the convenient use of Kotlin through the reduction of compilation errors. It also fixes many known bugs including Java type casts.

Debugging:

Kotlin improved debugging by enhancing the way the “Variables” view chooses a variable to display, considering the additional technical information in bytecode. The new and improved, Kotlin “Variables” view reflects on the relevant variables, local variables in lambda and the captured variables from the outer context and parameters of other outer functions.

With this update, Kotlin added improved support for the “Evaluate expression” functionality in the debugger for any non-trivial language features. Users can modify variables like local extension functions and accessors through “Evaluate expression”.

Kotlin/Native Enhancements:

The compatibility of Kotlin/Native towards Kotlin has been improved with this version. Kotlin has attempted to reduce complexity by aligning Kotlin/Native with Kotlin by releasing the 1.3.50 update for both the binaries. The new compiler now includes actual bitcode in produced frameworks with performance improvements made in the interop tool. This release has brought new excitement among kotlin developers by adding more pre-imported Apple frameworks for all platforms.

Dukat Alliance:

Dukat is used for the conversion of  TypeScript Declaration (.d.ts) files into Kotlin’s external declaration. This feature makes use of Javascript libraries more easy by reducing the need to write JS wrappers. Kotlin/JS is now packaged with experimental support for Dukat integration for Gradle projects. With this integration, typesafe wrappers are generated automatically for npm dependencies,  by running the build task in Gradle,  to be used from

Some Key Features Of Kotlin that matters:

  • Kotlin increases the productivity of the whole team by reducing the need for more coding time.
  • Interchangeability with Java makes it more viable and feasible than most other languages.
  • It provides extensive support for Android Studio and various SDKs.
  • Kotlin is faster than Java in performance at incremental speeds
  • Kotlin is working on ‘NullPointerExceptions’ for safer mode of app development
  • Kotlin creators announced the first release of Kotlin Coroutines – a Kotlin library for asynchronous programming, by which developers can use asynchronous programming for application development.
  • With the latest 1.3.50 release, there is a lot less bugging issues with it than most others.
  • It facilitates faster development of the application by low coding needs.
  • Kotlin is one of the easiest programming languages to learn.
  • Kotlin combines the procedural and functional parts of programming seamlessly.

Concluding Lines:

Google now offers Kotlin learning program for developers on its own platform and this asserts the authority of Kotlin in recent times over Java. It is not that Java will diminish under this storm of Kotlin, but, each developer must have a basic knowledge of Kotlin too and this will be the future scenario. Each and every programming language has its peak phase and Kotlin is quite close to its peak phase.

The basic criteria are coding needs and Kotlin emerges a hero by offering the goods of a professional application development language with little or low coding necessity. Language creators and developers are now experimenting with Kotlin/Native, which allows the compilation of Kotlin in native binaries, only to allow the development of applications on different platforms and operating systems like  Linux, Windows or macOS. With, growing Android community of developers and app designers there is a certain soar of Kotlin usage and will continue until a reasonable dominance. Kotlin is also quite dominating on multiple platforms and not just the Android with iOS framework support by Kotlin/Native coding.

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Written by Smith Johnson