Kotlin 1.3.60 Released to Aid Android App Developers

Kotlin and Java go Hand in Hand when it comes to Android app development. And the most approaching android app development language-Kotlin has released its Kotlin version 1.3.60 which contains a diverse number of new updates and few enhancements, including tooling enhancements for debugging and Gradle scripts, a new worksheet mode for IntelliJ IDEA, improved error messages and preview of some Kotlin 1.4 features. 

This huge number of features will let Kotlin win the battle of Java VS Kotlin.   

According to the 2019 survey of Kotlin, 62% of developers develop android apps with Kotlin. 

Let’s unlock the name of Updates one by one in brief. 

 IntelliJ IDEA support

• Improved Scratch files & Worksheets to make the path of android app development a bit easier, Kotlin 1.3.60 has improved Scratch files and Worksheets. This update will let developers an easy path on the way to conduct small experiments with their codebase (even use Sandbox of the entire project) and can see the outcomes in a different window.

• Debugging Improvements are now free to use set function breakpoints in the Kotlin code. The debugger will then stop execution on entering or exiting the corresponding function. A developer can also set an additional entry condition if needed:
  
  

Brand New Java-to-Kotlin Converter 

New Kotlin 1.3.60 has come up with the good work on the Java-to-Kotlin converter. Now many rooms of issues have been fixed that many app development companies were facing- such as conversion for static imports and proper analysis of usage of a collection.

Now, its been so easy to convert several files at once, they are analyzed together and the usages form the other files affect the main outcome.

Kotlin /Native Updates: Better Performance 

To make the performance better, the new Kotlin 1.3.60 has come up with many improvements factors in terms of code optimization. And this enhancement will make Interface calls 5X times and type checks 50X times faster. 

Kotlin/JS Updates: Source maps

New changes arrive for Kotlin/JS, including quality of life updates and a new org.jetbrains.kotlin.js plugin. This plugin offers simplifications.

Source maps are now generated automatically for the code. This change will make debugging easier and includes support for breakpoints and code annotations and more helpful info.

Kotlin 1.4: Future Plans of Kotlin

Since 1.3.60 is only a minor release, it does not include major changes to the language. However, Kotlin version 1.4 will arrive in 2020, as per the plan set by JetBrains.

Users can test out some of the upcoming features. You will have to specify the corresponding language version and set it to 1.4. Note that these features are currently experimental.

Kotlin 1.4 will include:

• NPE assertions
• Allows break and continue inside when
• Fixes and changes for tail-recursive functions
• Upcoming breaking change: Combining open and tailored modifiers will display an error. Users will also not be able to use open and tailrec at the same time