Kotlin, a lesser known programming for building Android apps, is currently on a roll. Developers are aggressively switching from Java to Kotlin app development, and this only happened when Google made it official earlier this year, at the Google I/O 2017 conference.
Google announced that Kotlin will be the new and the foremost third-party supported programming language for building Android apps, besides Java.
Prior to the official announcement by Google, Kotlin was just another programming language aimed for developers who develop Java, Android, JS browser and native applications. It is a statically-typed programming language developed by JetBrains that is interoperable with Java and Android. Like Java, Kotlin also follows object-oriented approach for developing apps.
Further, it outperforms Java on several parameters offering a cleaner syntax scheme, a simpler code file and different functional elements that Java does not have, till date. Some of the features that Kotlin has and Java does not include are Null-safety, Lambda expressions, Companion objects and Getters and Setters. The list goes on. To know more click here.
Kotlin has certainly picked pace after the Google I/O 2017 conference and according to a research by Realm, by the end of 2018, Kotlin will surpass Java and become the primary programming language for developing Android applications.
Kotlin adoption rate went from 7.4% to 14.7%
As per the same Realm report, Android app developers using Kotlin doubled after the Google’s announcement earlier this May at the conference. Considering the same, the projected percentage of developers working with Kotlin will surpass than the ones working with Java by December 2018. It is estimated that Kotlin will have the market share of 50.7% pulling down Java to 49.3% by the end of the next year. Since August 2015, the number of Android apps built with Kotlin has increased by 125%.
Like Swift is for iOS, Kotlin is for Android
Just like Apple transformed the iOS app development ecosystem by introducing easier and user-friendly programming language Swift, Kotlin followed the footprints. Now with Google announcing it as the official alternative for Java to build Android apps, it seems that the entire Android ecosystem will transform in the coming years.
Kotlin is on the rise
Realm reports that not only the number of developers using Kotlin are rising but businesses are getting their existing apps to build in Kotlin. Around 20% of apps built using Java before Google I/O are now being built in Kotlin.
The report also states, “Java (on Android) is dying”. No matter how powerful the language is and no matter how many years it ruled, there will always be an alternative for it in the future. Java application development requires significant effort, skill and expertise, which is now set to change with the rapid adoption of Kotlin.
The chief marketer at Realm, Paul Kopacki said, “Kotlin is a much more modern language. It’s easier to understand, it’s easier to write, it’s a little higher in abstraction than Java, and it’s really been designed with mobile in mind.” No wonder, it is attracting talented as well as experienced brains.
Witnessing the massive rate at which Kotlin is being adopted around the globe, it would be difficult to find app developers working in Java. Simplicity and modern outlook are the key drivers for Kotlin, which is, however, asking major revamp in the app development practices of even the top app development companies. Brands have already started to make a move and it’s only a matter of time for others to join in. But one thing is quite evident that Java (for Android app development) is on the verge of its extinction. So being an Android app developer, it would be advantageous if you mend your ways accordingly and act quickly if not soon.