Kotlin is an open-source programming language created by JetBrains that became popular because it can be used to write Android applications. But I’m going to start talking more about this language... The people who make this language are JETBRAINS, a company that creates development environments (IDE). This language is static typing, since it can be developed on JVM or JavaScript; or for a few months, even without any of them, since it is developed in parallel in native with LLVM. Thanks to that, it is fully interoperable with Java code, allowing you to migrate gradually to different projects.

Kotlin can be used anywhere a Java virtual machine can be installed. But the thing does not stop there, there are variants of Kotlin that allow the language to be used in countless places, and its use in these areas is increasing.

Release cycle of Kotlin language

Kotlin releases are divided into three types: feature, incremental, and bug-correcting releases. However, these changes will only affect feature versions in most cases. Mainly we have the future releases, which will change language, and this will be done in a period of six months, although these can be postponed. Then we have the incremental releases, which cause improvements in terms of the tools of the system, this cycle varies between 2 to 3 months, between launches of characteristics. Finally, we have the bug fixes, which are done in a cycle of between one to two weeks, after an incremental release if corrections are needed.

Versions

The first commit to the Kotlin Git repository was on 8 November 2010. Kotlin 1.0 was released on 15 February 2016. This is the first officially stable release and JetBrains has been committed to long-term pre-release compatibility since this release. Kotlin 1.2 was released on 28 November 2017. The ability to share code between JVM and JavaScript platforms was recently added to this version (as of version 1.4 cross-platform programming is an updated “empirical” Alpha functionality). A full stack demo has been done with the new Kotlin/JS Gradle Plugin. Kotlin 1.3 was released on October 29, 2018, bringing choruses for asynchronous programming. On May 7, 2019, Google made it known that the Kotlin programming language is now their beloved language for Android app developers. Kotlin 1.4 was released in August 2020, with slight changes in support for Apple platforms. Kotlin 1.5 was released in May 2021. Kotlin 1.6 was released in November 2021. Kotlin 1.7 has been released in June 2022, including the Alpha version of the new Kotlin K2.

Next versions

KOTLIN will bring its new proposal with KOTLIN 1.7.0-BETA. Where will have several features and novelties:

• Changes in the compiler inference.
• The return of the min() and max() collection functions.
• Stabilization of definitely non-avoidable types.
• Updates for the new Kotlin/Native memory manager. Kotlin 1.7.0 will feature stable definitely non-voidable rates, which were introduced in Kotlin 1.6.20. These types have been added to provide better interoperability when extending generic Java classes and interfaces. Also, Kotlin 1.7.0-Beta includes more changes to the compiler inference. With this version, the compiler inference is automatically activated if a regular type inference cannot get enough information about a type without specifying the compiler option -Xenable-builder-inference