Best Kotlin Libraries for 2022 and Beyond

Kotlin has garnered a lot of attention among the software community. It is renowned as a modern and statically used programming language that enables software developers to work at a high level of efficiency and productivity. Kotlin runs on Java Virtual Machine. The programming language is quite interoperable alongside the Java programming language.

Since Google declared the release of Kotlin, it has stirred a lot of discussion among the software developers. With interest renewed in Kotlin, the software community is skimming at the reasons to use the programming language. Though it can’t overthrow the empire built by Java, it does have some extra scores over Java.

What are the Top Benefits of Kotlin over Java?

Below are some of the best benefits offered by Kotlin over Java:

• Kotlin offers an optimized run-time performance.

• Kotlin features a seamless and easy-to-use compiler.

• The programming language facilitates convenient integration with the legacy infrastructure, on account of its compatibility with almost all Java libraries and frameworks.

• Kotlin is developed for easy integration with Marven and Gradle systems.

• The programming language is quite structured as opposed to its counterpart Java. In addition to this, it also offers a known development tooling used for improving the productivity of developers.

What are the Top Kotlin Libraries for Software Developers?

Let us look at some of the best Kotlin libraries for software developers to define new product development standards.

• Anko:

Anko is one of the leading Kotlin libraries, maintained under JetBrains. It develops clean code and features comprehensibility. In addition to this, Kotlin enables software developers to avoid Boilerplate code. One of the best features offered by Anko is its lightweight. The name of the library has been derived from the first two letters of Android and Kotlin, thereby making it Anko.

The Kotlin library highlights four diversified modules, including layouts, commons, SQLite, and Coroutines. The layouts of Anko enables software developers to code dynamic Android layouts. In addition to this, it is fast and has a unique type-safe approach.

• Kotlin Coroutines:

Kotlin Coroutines is a rich Kotlin library built by JetBrains. While developing server-side apps, mobile app, or desktop app, it is crucial to offer an experience that is scalable and fluid. Kotlin resolves this issue through Kotlin Coroutines support at the programming language level. As a result, all the prominent functionalities are delegated to libraries.

In addition to tapping on the doors for asynchronous programming, Kotlin Coroutines also offers numerous possibilities such as actors and concurrency. Similar to Anko, Kotlin Coroutines is a lightweight Kotlin library, owing to the support for suspension. It does not require blocking the thread at the juncture where coroutine is being executed.

• KAndroid:

KAndroid stands for Kotlin for Android Library. KAndroid intensifies its focus on delivering exceptional extensions for eliminating boilerplate code and increasing efficiency in Android SDK. KAndroid can be of great use for numerous functionalities such as SearchView query text change, ViewPager Implementation, Handler Implementation, SeekBar extension, loading animation from XML, and more.

One of the most interesting features offered by KAndroid is its ability to function with fewer number of code lines. Through the use of KAndroid, software developers do not have to write common functions, thereby saving the number of code lines.

• RxKotlin:

Among the other Kotlin libraries, RxKotlin is able to distinguish itself on the basis of its lightweight. Besides this, it includes convenient extension functions to RxJava. As a result, KAndroid is able to use RxJava alongside Kotlin in an exceptional manner.

Since it leverages RxJava with Kotlin, it collects all data in a single centralized library as well as standard conventions. However, Kotlin has wide language features such as extension functions that help in streamlining the usage of RxJava further.

• Koin:

Koin is a dependency injection framework used by Kotlin developers. It is written entirely in Kotlin. Koin is extremely handy and useful while software developers are building Kotlin apps and need a library for handling controllers, repositories, and services.

There are certain Koin-specific terminologies that Kotlin software developers need to know before getting their hands on the library.

• Module: The function builds a module within Koin that is, in turn, used by Koin for offering all the required dependencies.

• get(): The function is utilized in the constructor for providing the necessary dependency.

• Factory: The function offers a bean definition, thereby developing a new instance every time it is being injected.

• KMongo:

KMongo is one of the best Kotlin libraries, which is gradually attracting a lot of attention from software developers across the world. It is a specific Kotlin library for MongoDB. It underpins both asynchronous as well as synchronous patterns. It can also be used alongside coroutines. 

Since it is fairly considered to be a new Kotlin library, it is not used as much as the other libraries. When you don’t utilize KMongo, you will need to utilize a Java driver for MongoDB.

• Vaadin:

Vaadin is known as an open-source Kotlin library. It includes a vast set of components and tools that facilitate software developers to incorporate modern user interfaces. It is a prominent web framework that uses Kotlin DSL. Through the use of Kotlin DSL for Vaadin, it becomes possible to add content to the UI class right away.

Vaadin simplifies user interface development and is an exceptional Kotlin library for the development of web applications. Vaadin enables software developers to write extremely expressive and concise code.

The Sum and the Substance

While it is easy to list down the top seven Kotlin libraries, it is, in turn, difficult to handpick the best Kotlin library for your product. In such a case, the best way to approach the most-suited Kotlin library for your product is to take a detailed look at your project requirements. The functionalities of your project will tell you more about the type of technology stacks that you need to use than any other parameter. Based on the requirements of your project, chart out the most prominent features required for our project and then go about crossing and ticking the Kotlin libraries list to get to the right one for your product.