Mobile applications are a revolutionizing technology without which many things become impossible on this date and time. And as mobile apps are developed on several platforms, the accessibility of the applications is not hard. The most popular platforms on which the applications are developed are iOS and Android. Even though with the popularity of the iOS platform, Android is gaining prominence all over the world because of its wide user base.
Android applications are on the rise and there are different technologies that are used for development. Over the time, developers have used languages like Lua, C#, JavaScript, C/C++, Scala, and Clojure but two names that came more often are Kotlin and Java. These both technologies are in a neck to neck battle for the best Android app development tool.
The debate began after Google I/O announced at a conference that they are thinking to make Kotlin as their official supportive development language for developing the android apps. Since then people are arguing about whether Java or Kotlin is better for Android app development. Let us put this debate to rest once and for all. Below are some features that an effective Android development tool requires and let us see if the Kotlin or Java is better.
Accuracy and reliability
Kotlin offers the developers a comfortable experience with concise and reliable codes. And because the Kotlin codes are reliable, the developers have to write fewer codes hence decreasing the chance of bug creation. And even if bugs are found in the program, the sorting and elimination of bugs will be easy compared to long codes.
Winner — Kotlin
Best for beginners
A beginner Android developer should always start with Java. Java is the base of the Android platform development. As Kotlin is new, the learning material for Kotlin may not be sufficient enough. The Java has been around for a long time and so the learning of Java is much easier than Kotlin. Even though Kotlin is easy to learn, you should only opt to learn Kotlin if you have enough time to learn it if you are a beginner in app development.
Winner — Java
Ease of learning
Although Java is a popular language, it is a primitive programming language when compared to Kotlin. Kotlin can be learned easily by anyone who doesn’t have any prior knowledge of mobile app development. It derives its majority syntax from C and C++. Therefore basic knowledge in C and C++ can be beneficial to learn Kotlin. The developers of Kotlin have made it really easy that it can be used to build efficient Android applications.
Winner — Kotlin
Android studio support
Kotlin has the best cards here. Kotlin gets the extended support from Android studio. While developing in Kotlin, the developer can choose Java simultaneously but in Java, you cannot use Kotlin. This gives the Java programmer the upper-hand when developing with Kotlin. Android Studio also provides code navigation, auto-completion, full refactoring support, debugging, and unit testing for Kotlin.
Winner — Kotlin
Data classes
If the project is complex, it is possible that there are multiple classes in the program that holds the data. In Java, the process is complex where you have to write a lot of boilerplate codes and you will also need constructor fields to store the data getter and setter function. Where in Kotlin you only need to include the “data” keyword and the compiler will perform the rest of the functions including the data setter and getter function.
Winner — Kotlin
In the battle between Kotlin and Java, Kotlin is clearly emerging as a winner. However, both of these languages have their own flaws and developers are looking to work way past it. Both of these programming languages are used by several Android App Development companies in USA, UK, India, and Australia who are prominent in the field of Android app development. Hence both of these languages are used for efficient Android app development. In the end, the decision lies with you.
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