Kotlin vs Java reviewed:
Both Kotlin and Java are statically typed language. Kotlin is newer with official release in 2016 as opposed to official release in 1995. Languages based on JVM can be compiled to JavaScript. Kotlin requires a plugin and can work with existing Java stack.
Kotlin offers a number of advantages over Java. It is definitely terse and more readable. It overcomes Java’s limitations for null references that is controlled by the type system.
Kotlin is designed with Java interoperability and enables smooth calls to all methods and properties by following a convention that cuts down code. Since java objects can be null, all objects
originating from Java are treated as platform types and all safety guarantees are the same as in Java. Annotations help with providing nullability information for type parameters.
Kotlin uses Array as invariants which prevent assigning of a typed array into another of projected type. Primitive type arrays are maintained without boxing overhead.
It uses a family of function types that have a special notation corresponding to the signatures of the functions involving parameters and return values There is also support for Suspending functions.
Kotlin supports Single Abstract Method aka SAM conversions which are implemented as an interface with a single abstract method. Kotlin function literals can be automatically converted into implementations of Java interfaces with a single non-default method. This can be used to create instances of SAM interfaces.
Kotlin does not support checked exceptions. Many believe that checked exceptions lead to decreased productivity with no significant improvement to code quality.
The compiler can infer the function types for variables. A function type can be invoked the invoke operator. Inline functions provide flexible control.
Kotlin also provide ‘is’ and ‘as’ operators for type checking and casts. The former operator allows us to check whether an object conforms to a given type. The ‘as’ operator also called the infix operator, is used in unsafe casts.
The Kotlin language has plenty of new syntax that follow parallels other newer development language. For example, we can use var and val keywords where var is used for mutable properties and val is used for read-only properties. The getters and setters are provided by default
Kotlin allows implementations to be delegated via delegation pattern that replaces implementation inheritance with zero boilerplate code. A derived class can implement an interface by delegating all of its public members to a specified object. This is independent from overrides.
Type inference for variables and property types is automatic. New symbols, methods, keywords and constants make it very easy to declare and use variables.
Slight modification of a class does not require a new subclass. Instead, we can use object expressions and object declarations
Kotlin allows writing a companion object inside the class so that its members can be accessed using only the class name as a qualifier. Companion object is useful when we need to write a function without instantiating a class but has access to the internals of a class such as a factory method.
Classes that are used exclusively for data are called data classes and declared with the data keyword.
The compiler automatically creates methods such as equals(), hashcode(), toString(), copy(). These are formed based on the type parameters in the constructor. These classes come with a few restrictions such as they cannot be abstract, sealed or inner but some of these were even relaxed in versions subsequent to 1.1
The standard library provides Pair and Triple as data classes.
Kotlin is perhaps the first to provide a clean separation between readonly and mutable collections. The readonly provides an interface to the collection to access the elements of items. The mutable interface extends the read only interface with write access. This is makes it clearer to call out collections that are meant for reporting stacks and do not interfere with the operations ongoing with the existing collection.
Ranges and progressions are easy to implement with Kotlin. For example, ascending can be specified as say 1..4 and descending can be specified as 4 downTo 1. Ranges include the sentinel values and are defined for comparable types that have an order. It is usually called in its operator form such as Number(1)..Number(4)
Kotlin is therefore, more than a notation change from Java. It packs features that were not seen earlier with Java.
Both Kotlin and Java are statically typed language. Kotlin is newer with official release in 2016 as opposed to official release in 1995. Languages based on JVM can be compiled to JavaScript. Kotlin requires a plugin and can work with existing Java stack.
Kotlin offers a number of advantages over Java. It is definitely terse and more readable. It overcomes Java’s limitations for null references that is controlled by the type system.
Kotlin is designed with Java interoperability and enables smooth calls to all methods and properties by following a convention that cuts down code. Since java objects can be null, all objects
originating from Java are treated as platform types and all safety guarantees are the same as in Java. Annotations help with providing nullability information for type parameters.
Kotlin uses Array as invariants which prevent assigning of a typed array into another of projected type. Primitive type arrays are maintained without boxing overhead.
It uses a family of function types that have a special notation corresponding to the signatures of the functions involving parameters and return values There is also support for Suspending functions.
Kotlin supports Single Abstract Method aka SAM conversions which are implemented as an interface with a single abstract method. Kotlin function literals can be automatically converted into implementations of Java interfaces with a single non-default method. This can be used to create instances of SAM interfaces.
Kotlin does not support checked exceptions. Many believe that checked exceptions lead to decreased productivity with no significant improvement to code quality.
The compiler can infer the function types for variables. A function type can be invoked the invoke operator. Inline functions provide flexible control.
Kotlin also provide ‘is’ and ‘as’ operators for type checking and casts. The former operator allows us to check whether an object conforms to a given type. The ‘as’ operator also called the infix operator, is used in unsafe casts.
The Kotlin language has plenty of new syntax that follow parallels other newer development language. For example, we can use var and val keywords where var is used for mutable properties and val is used for read-only properties. The getters and setters are provided by default
Kotlin allows implementations to be delegated via delegation pattern that replaces implementation inheritance with zero boilerplate code. A derived class can implement an interface by delegating all of its public members to a specified object. This is independent from overrides.
Type inference for variables and property types is automatic. New symbols, methods, keywords and constants make it very easy to declare and use variables.
Slight modification of a class does not require a new subclass. Instead, we can use object expressions and object declarations
Kotlin allows writing a companion object inside the class so that its members can be accessed using only the class name as a qualifier. Companion object is useful when we need to write a function without instantiating a class but has access to the internals of a class such as a factory method.
Classes that are used exclusively for data are called data classes and declared with the data keyword.
The compiler automatically creates methods such as equals(), hashcode(), toString(), copy(). These are formed based on the type parameters in the constructor. These classes come with a few restrictions such as they cannot be abstract, sealed or inner but some of these were even relaxed in versions subsequent to 1.1
The standard library provides Pair and Triple as data classes.
Kotlin is perhaps the first to provide a clean separation between readonly and mutable collections. The readonly provides an interface to the collection to access the elements of items. The mutable interface extends the read only interface with write access. This is makes it clearer to call out collections that are meant for reporting stacks and do not interfere with the operations ongoing with the existing collection.
Ranges and progressions are easy to implement with Kotlin. For example, ascending can be specified as say 1..4 and descending can be specified as 4 downTo 1. Ranges include the sentinel values and are defined for comparable types that have an order. It is usually called in its operator form such as Number(1)..Number(4)
Kotlin is therefore, more than a notation change from Java. It packs features that were not seen earlier with Java.
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