Introduction

Kotlin programming language was introduced in 2011 by JetBrains, the company responsible for creating Intellij IDEA, the most sophisticated Java IDE (Integrated Development Environment). JetBrains released the project as open source in February 2012 under the Apache 2 license. On February 15th, 2016, Kotlin 1.0 was released. JetBrains has committed to focusing on providing long-term backward compatibility with this version, which is considered the first official stable release. The general-purpose programming language used here is heavily statically typed and runs on the JVM. Kotlin was made an official language for Android development by Google in 2017. Currently, it focuses on supporting the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), but it also compiles to JavaScript. The popular programming languages Java, C#, JavaScript, Scala, and Groovy have all had an impact on Kotlin. 

What is Kotlin? 

A cross-platform, statically typed, general-purpose programming language featuring type inference is called Kotlin. It combines Object Oriented Programming (OOPs) and Functional Programming in open, flexible, and unique platforms. Kotlin is a “statically typed programming language,” just like Java, C, and C++ (languages in which variables need not be defined before they are used). 

Kotlin is used in 

• Mobile applications (especially Android apps) 
• Web development 
• Server-side applications 
• Data science 

Key Features

1. Concise: Kotlin lowers the need to write unnecessary codes. Kotlin is more concise as a result. 

1. Interoperable: Both the Java code and the Kotlin code are quickly and naturally called by the Kotlin language. 

1. Smart Cast: It properly typecasts immutable values and automatically places them in their safe cast. 

1. Tool-friendly: Excellent tool support is provided. Kotlin may be used with any of the Java IDEs (Integrated Development Environment), including Android Studio, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA. The command line is another way to run Kotlin programs. 

1. Compilation time – It compiles quickly and with higher performance. 

1. Functional and Object-Oriented Capabilities – Higher-order functions, lambda expressions, operator overloading, slow evaluation, and many other important techniques are all included in the extensive collection of methods available in Kotlin. 

Kotlin: Present and Future 

 The Present:    

• It is a popular language used by many companies to develop more effective Android apps, including Netflix, Pinterest, and Corda. 
• Started gaining popularity with its incredible programming features in just one year, from 2016 to 2017. 
• It was declared the official programming language for Android development by Google in 2017. 
• Fully consistent with Java and Android, so you can quickly replace Java code with it. 

The Future:  

• Open-Source: It was always open-sourced when JetBrains created the Kotlin project ten years ago. Support from the Kotlin Slack team and the benefits of open source will always be important aspects in ensuring Kotlin’s popularity.  
• Brevity: Its brevity is one of the major reasons why developers like it. The developer’s job is made simpler, and the chance of error is reduced by Kotlin’s simple design. 

Conclusion

It is statically typed, and quite simple to understand and write the language. It will make the process of creating new code faster for you. General-purpose programming code deployment and scale-up maintenance are significantly simpler. According to Google, 70% of the top 1000 apps on the Play Store were built in Kotlin, making it the language that is still most frequently used on Android. Several Android apps, such as Google’s Home, are in the process of being migrated to Kotlin, and so use both Kotlin and Java.