
Ask HN: Is it possible (convenient) to code an Android app using only Kotlin? - chatmasta
Is Kotlin ready for prime time? I’d like to learn android development, but I’ve always hated Java and strived to avoid it.<p>Is it possible (convenient, no major roadblocks) to create an Android app using only Kotlin? Or is it likely you will need to drop into java to interface with popular libraries?<p>How does Kotlin&#x2F;Java compare to Swift&#x2F;Objective-C?
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deadcoder0904
You hate Java but you know JavaScript, then try React Native. You can create
most of the applications using React Native which works for both IOS &
Android. Or you can try Flutter which uses DartLang.

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quantummkv
Yes. It is hundred percent possible to create an app using kotlin. You don't
need to write java code to interface with libraries (though you can if you
want to).

Since both Java and Kotlin compile down to the JVM Bytecode, using Java
libraries with kotlin won't be an issue.

Convenience might be an issue if you are starting new. Most of the turorials
and the official documentation for android are written with Java in mind.
There are good books and tutorials available for kotlin and they will only
increase day by day. But you will have to work hard for the initial period.

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chatmasta
I've been programming for 14 years now (if you can count HTML as an 11 year
old :p). I've reached professional proficiency in Python, JavaScript. I have
minor experience (at least one project) in C, C++, PHP, Prolog. I'm also
proficient with bash, SQL, etc... Point is, learning a new language is not a
problem for me.

That said, I have very little, basically no Java experience (used it 8 years
ago in high school, and for a bit at an internship). I also have no Kotlin
experience. So either way, I need to learn something if I want to develop
natively for android (I'm interested in creating an app heavily dependent on
system networking API's, so while I could use JS for the presentation layer,
native code is a requirement at some point).

How would you recommend approaching this? Should I learn the basics of android
programming with Java first, then move to Kotlin? Should I learn them
simultaneously somehow? Any resources you can point me to?

Thanks for your time.

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mataniko
Is your goal building an Android application or learning a new language?

Instead of asking "Should I use Kotlin or Java to create an Android
application?" ask yourself "Do I want to create an Android application using
Kotlin or Java?"

You're going to get mixed answers from external forces because this is a
mostly subjective question. People who used Java for 10 years will obviously
recommend one over the other, while early Kotlin adopters will praise their
own choice.

The biggest concern when choosing a language should be "Can I achieve the same
results?" in this case is a yes, because you can always use both in the same
project if you need to dive deep into some Android API.

Put 10-15 minutes into a simple Hello World in each one, and see which one is
more fun and engaging for you to learn.

~~~
chatmasta
Good advice, thanks. I suppose the goal is to code an Android application but
avoid (re)learning Java. I guess I was looking more for validation that this
is possible without major headaches.

