Are you thinking of investing in Android mobile application development for your business? Don't think twice. It is an excellent way to boost the performance of your company. However, selecting a programming language for this purpose is an actual challenge. Many of us believe that Java is the greatest programming language for android app development since it is widely used and renowned among the android app development community. However, this confidence apparently seems to be shattering with the introduction of Kotlin in the line of Android mobile app development. Therefore, with this blog, we will compare both Android programming languages and will try to address different common queries around them. Let's get started.
Java is Android's native language that enables mobile applications to interface with the operating system and runs directly on the hardware. One of the prominent advantages of the Java language is that you can build any type of mobile application using it. Plus, it is practically compatible with all types of machines and operating systems, including Windows, Android, and Linux. You can also use Microservices with Java. Java was created by Sun Microsystems, which is now acquired by Oracle.
Kotlin comes under statically typed programming language. It is a general-purpose programming language that offers detailed syntaxes which are highly readable and concise while its working is based on the Java class library. The basic idea behind the development of Kotlin is to enhance overall productivity while providing a coding experience that is more practical and can function as both object-oriented and functional programming (FP) language. Kotlin's ultimate aim is to make mixed-language projects possible. Thus, it offers concise expressions and abstractions along with improved syntax. When used with Java, Kotlin provides reduced boilerplate code, which is a substantial advantage for Android app developers.
For web development, Kotlin offers coroutines and JavaScript interoperability.
Since Kotlin is not as popular as other well-established languages such as Java, the android app developer community that support it is small.
Is Java Heading Towards Its End?
Java is a well-known programming language that comes with a plethora of open-source tools and libraries to aid programmers. That being stated, no language is perfect, and even Java has issues that can make an android app developer's job more difficult. However, Kotlin definitely resolves standard programming problems and also enhances the Java ecosystem.
Kotlin has evolved into a more stable and consistent development alternative for Android Studio during the last two years. Some android app developers anticipate that in the future years, Kotlin will supplant Java as the preferred language for Android development. Others believe that Kotlin and Java can coexist without one overpowering the other.
For the most part, Kotlin's advantages exceed its disadvantages. There are some constraints in Java that make designing Android APIs difficult. Kotlin is intrinsically lightweight, tidy, and significantly less verbose when it comes to data classes, developing callbacks, and getters/setters. In other words, Kotlin was created to improve current Java models by addressing API design flaws.
While opting for Kotlin for your mobile application development, keep two things in mind. First of all, ensure that your development team is ready for the transition. This will require extra efforts from your team in terms of learning a new language, rewriting code, and optimizing your product.
Your team must be prepared to adjust to any challenges that arise during the learning process. It's also crucial to consider how the transfer will affect your current architecture. The deletion, creation, and merger of specific artifacts and classes can occur when programming languages are changed. This might compromise the architecture of your product.
Another option is to hire an Android app developer from a reputable and experienced company. iWebSerivces can help in creating scalable, user-friendly, and feature-enriched Android app for your mobile application.