Kotlin’s popularity grows constantly.
In this text, I’m going to show you what resources can you use to learn Kotlin and why should you choose it as your own language of choice in the next year.
Should I know Java?
It’s not mandatory to know Java before starting your journey with Kotlin. However, coming from the Java world can be helpful in getting familiar with the very basic concepts of the language.
Learning by doing
The best way to try Kotlin (and I believe any other programming language) is to learn it by doing.
Take a look at the list below and choose your best way to learn:
Online REPL
Command-line REPL
- kotlinc
Kotlin Koans
Kotlin Koans are short programming challenges you can solve and learn the language along the way.
You can solve them in 2 ways:
- Straight from your IDE, using EduTools IntelliJ plugin
- Online on the Try Kotlin playground
JetBrains Academy
JetBrains Academy is an online learning platform that offers multiple programming languages courses. Obviously, there’s a nice Kotlin learning path available.
Other courses
If you’re coming from the Java world and you need a short introduction to Kotlin, you can try Kotlin for Java developers free course on the Coursera platform.
Again, it’s an official course, made by the JetBrains developers. It covers all the things you need to know when you’ve decided to start your Kotlin adventure.
Books
When it comes to books I can recommend Kotlin in action by Svetlana Isakova and Dmitry Jemerov. It’s a very actionable book, but it requires some degree of experience with the Java language.
Code snippets from the book can be found and tested in an online Try Kotlin editor.
It’s learning by doing at its best.
Where to follow
If you want to stay up-to-date with the recent Kotlin releases or if you’re looking for a nice community, check the official Kotlin Slack channel.
It’s a good idea to follow the Kotlin language Twitter account as well. They’re sharing a lot of resources and, from time to time, nice actionable language & IDE tips you can use in your projects (check #KotlinTips hashtag).
Use the partition function to split a collection into two lists based on a predicate. The function returns a pair of lists:
the first contains all elements for which the predicate evaluates to true;
the second contains all the other elements. https://t.co/lY57Sq802L#KotlinTips pic.twitter.com/S6cqbgQ5i1— Kotlin (@kotlin) December 30, 2020