Google Builders Weblog: Google at KotlinConf ‘23

Posted by Márton Braun, Developer Relations Engineer

As a part of Google’s ongoing dedication to supporting the Kotlin language, we’re actually excited to be a gold stage sponsor for KotlinConf once more this 12 months. Grace Kloba shared the story of Google’s investments in Kotlin inside the keynote, which is recapped on this publish. You’ll additionally discover the checklist of talks by Google from the occasion’s schedule under, be sure you catch these on the dwell stream.

For a abstract of all KotlinConf keynote bulletins, learn the weblog publish by JetBrains.

Kotlin began gaining recognition within the Android neighborhood round 2016. We have been additionally impressed with Kotlin’s concise syntax, trendy options, and security. In 2017, we introduced official assist for Kotlin on Android, and dedicated to its future by creating the Kotlin Basis with JetBrains.

Since then we invested in Kotlin by including assist in Android Studio, instructing the language to builders, and going Kotlin-first with our libraries, documentation, and samples. We additionally constructed Kotlin Image Processing, an API that allows annotation processors to run as much as twice as quick as earlier options.

Immediately, Kotlin is the preferred language for Android improvement. Over 95% of the highest 1000 Android apps use Kotlin, and over 50% {of professional} Android builders use Kotlin as their major language (in contrast with 25% selecting the Java programming language).

Amongst skilled Android builders utilizing Kotlin, we noticed a 96.9% optimistic satisfaction price in our newest annual survey, which is 9-points larger than their Java counterparts.

As our remaining step in making Kotlin the one language for Android improvement, we’re excited to announce immediately that the Gradle Kotlin DSL is turning into the default construct language for Android apps, beginning in Android Studio Giraffe. Learn the weblog publish to study extra.

Since going Kotlin-first, all new Jetpack libraries are written in Kotlin. Jetpack Compose, our trendy toolkit for constructing Android apps, is Kotlin-only. It makes in depth use of Kotlin’s language options, and its implementation is made doable by Kotlin’s wealthy compiler API, which permits us to generate state administration logic for you.

Jetpack Compose is altering the best way builders construct apps. The staff from Clue shared with us that their improvement velocity elevated as much as 3x after rewriting their app in Compose.
Over 23% of the highest 1000 Android apps ship with Compose, greater than double 12 months over 12 months.

There are a lot of assets obtainable to study Compose. For current Android builders seeking to increase their information, we’ve revealed the Jetpack Compose for Android Builders course. For rookies to programming, we suggest taking the Android Fundamentals with Compose course to study Kotlin, Android, and Compose.

Kotlin grew to become typically obtainable for Android improvement inside Google in 2019. Since then, most of our Android apps are being constructed with Kotlin. For instance of the advantages, when the Google Residence staff migrated to Kotlin they noticed a 33% lower in NullPointerExceptions, which tremendously improved the top person expertise.

Nonetheless, Google’s curiosity in Kotlin doesn’t cease at Android apps. Greater than 45% of our engineers who write Kotlin use it for server improvement. We now have over 15 million traces of Kotlin code in Google’s supply management system, and this has been doubling 12 months over 12 months.

To assist this, we’ve got a devoted staff constructing instruments to combine Kotlin into Google’s ecosystem. You possibly can catch the Adopting Kotlin at Google scale session for extra particulars.

We’re trying ahead to the new compiler in Kotlin 2.0, which can be a significant enchancment for developer productiveness. We now have a devoted staff working with JetBrains on the compiler, and we’re working to include it into our tooling, together with Android Studio, KSP, and the Compose compiler. We’re additionally leveraging our massive inside codebase of Kotlin code to confirm the compatibility of the brand new compiler.

Trying ahead, we’re experimenting with Kotlin Multiplatform. This consists of the Google Workspace staff, who’ve a prototype with the enterprise logic of Google Docs operating on iOS utilizing Kotlin Multiplatform and Kotlin/Native. Take a look at the Kotlin Multiplatform in Google Workspace lightning speak to study extra.

As a part of our explorations into Kotlin Multiplatform, we’ve additionally made contributions that can profit the neighborhood:

We’ve ported a set of Jetpack libraries to multiplatform. This lets you use instruments and APIs you realize and love from Android and apply them to multiplatform. 

We’ve contributed to the Kotlin/Native toolchain, bettering its efficiency. 

We’ve been serving to out with the Gradle plugin for Kotlin Multiplatform, to provide you extra management over every goal platform whereas nonetheless sharing as a lot code as doable.

As a founding member of the Kotlin Basis, we’re excited in regards to the Basis’s expansions introduced at KotlinConf:

Inviting extra firms to collaborate on the event and promotion of Kotlin by means of a membership program. 

Providing funding for particular person authors of actively maintained, open supply Kotlin Multiplatform libraries.

With these steps, we proceed to foster a wholesome ecosystem for the language, and guarantee its future development.

We sit up for sharing extra in our periods at KotlinConf, which you’ll tune in to on the dwell stream. In the event you’re attending in particular person, you can too go to us at our sales space to have a chat about Kotlin.

Jeffrey van Gogh, John Pampuch

Spring + Kotlin = Trendy + Reactive + Productive

Josh Lengthy, James Ward

Kotlin Multiplatform in Google Workspace

Jason Parachoniak

Kotlin Multiplatform Conversions at Android Jetpack Scale

Dustin Lam, James Ward

Márton Braun

Adventures constructing a Kotlin Multiplatform Benchmarking Library

Rahul Ravikumar

Tyson Henning

Kevin Bierhoff

Márton Braun

*Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Oracle and/or its associates.