Do you use Kotlin’s most powerful tool?
There are many Java-haters and many Java-lovers, but I have hardly seen anyone who doesn’t like Kotlin. From data class
s to operator functions, one of the most underrated features of Kotlin is having Higher-Order Lambda functions.
At first, this might not seem like a useful thing as we could define a function instead of having a function for a variable. But here are some amazing use cases for having Lambda functions in Kotlin.
# 5— Making a Function Generator
We know that we return variables and objects from traditional functions that we define; however, with the introduction of Higher-Order Functions, we can return a function type from a function. Let’s have a look:
If we have a function with customisable content, we can use closures to return a function with a specific intention. We can also add a receiver parameter for the lambda function like this:
# 4— Reduce Code Duplication
As we’ve seen in the previous example, we can remove duplicated and also reduce boilerplate code with the help of Lambda functions.
For example, you are developing an android application that changes the colour and background of a Text on the screen.
# 3— Ease of Iteration
To iterate over an array, we can use a for
loop or the forEach
function. However, sometimes, they are not readily available. We can take advantage of lambda functions to make our code readable.
# 2 — Perform some code before and after the function
If you are from a competitive coding background, you must know that many problems ask you to do a certain amount of test cases in the same execution. You can use this function with lambda parameters to focus on solving the problem rather than setting up your boilerplate.
# 1 — Kotlin DSL
The winner of them all! Kotlin DSL is one of the best use cases of having lambda functions in Kotlin. This allows Kotlin to also create websites and run React code. For example,
Conclusion
Kotlin itself is a complicated language, in my opinion. I tutor programming online and I have come to realise that teaching Java is way easier than teaching Kotlin. Kotlin was created with the ambition to reduce Java’s boilerplate code and add many new features that Java isn’t built to do. However, once you master the language, it is beautiful and well adjusted to the programmers’ needs.