Android & iOS + Backend Apps With Kotlin Only
Develop your backend, Android & iOS Apps with Kotlin
Kotlin has been one of the most talked about languages since its birth in 2011. Since then it has come a long way to ease out the development in Android. Kotlin almost replaced Java in Android Development, most of the apps nowadays are built in Kotlin. Since, in Kotlin you don’t need to write boilerplate code like you do in Java. Java is not going anywhere, but its not best fit for Android Apps, since Java was created when there was no idea of Smart Phones. As you know smart phones come up with limited resources. For more details like why Kotlin replacing Java, you can read here.
What is Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile (KMM)?
Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile is an SDK to build iOS And Android Apps.
It offers all the combined benefits of creating cross-platform and native apps.
Like Flutter and React Native, you can also use Kotlin to build your Android and iOS Applications. And also you can build your backend with the same language. There’s no need to introduce any new programming languages to your codebase to make your app cross-platform.
OKAY, Wait wait….. wait… Don’t directly jump into the development, since KMM is in BETA NOW, so you’ve to wait till we get the stable version.
So, Why Use Kotlin?
Kotlin is one of the most newly developed languages which helps you to write less code and do more. It saves your development time and also reduce the code review time. And its easy to find bugs in clean and smaller codebase.
Kotlin for server side
Unlike just Cross Platform Apps, you can also build your backend with Kotlin. Kotlin applications can be deployed into any host that supports Java Web applications, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and more.
- Expressiveness: Kotlin’s innovative language features, such as its support for type-safe builders and delegated properties, help build powerful and easy-to-use abstractions.
- Scalability: Kotlin’s support for coroutines helps build server-side applications that scale to massive numbers of clients with modest hardware requirements.
- Interoperability: Kotlin is fully compatible with all Java-based frameworks, so you can use your familiar technology stack while reaping the benefits of a more modern language.
- Migration: Kotlin supports gradual migration of large codebases from Java to Kotlin. You can start writing new code in Kotlin while keeping older parts of your system in Java.
- Tooling: In addition to great IDE support in general, Kotlin offers framework-specific tooling (for example, for Spring) in the plugin for IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate.
- Learning Curve: For a Java developer, getting started with Kotlin is very easy. The automated Java-to-Kotlin converter included in the Kotlin plugin helps with the first steps. Kotlin Koans can guide you through the key features of the language with a series of interactive exercises.
Case Studies
There are some really big companies like NETFLIX, VMWARE, PHILIPS and many more, which are already started using Kotlin for Mobile App Development to simplify their app development efforts.
If you want, you can read more case studies here and learn how Kotlin helped them to build successful products which is being used by millions.
First Cross Platform App With Kotlin: Android Studio
If you’re already an Android Developer then you don’t have to worry about how to set up environment to create your project and run an Android App. To run the iOS App, you have to install the XCode on your MAC Machine.
If you completely new to Kotlin and you don’t know to install Android Studio on your machine, then you can download the Android Studio from official website here and in order to create your cross platform project in Android Studio, you can follow this.
You can also watch this video for KMM quick start guide.
I hope you liked reading this article, you can also visit my website where I keep posting article regularly. keep learning and keep growing.
