this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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Programming

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Is anyone migrating from Java to Kotlin at work? (self.programming)
submitted 1 year ago by Code to c/programming
19 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've been learning Kotlin recently & I find it to be a beautiful Language. Does anyone at work use Kotlin that isn't an Android developer?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

maybe? I know I dont have the balls to suggest our enterprise sw migrate to kotlin. I love the language but I think getting management to make such a drastic change can be hazardous if it turns out to cause unexpected bugs that lose millions of dollars :( such is the life of a java programmer

[–] austin 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

assuming you propose the idea to migrate to kotlin, it would go something like this:

  • talk to your other developers and see if they feel the same way. get other developer buy-in
  • propose the idea to management with reasons why it would be beneficial
  • management now either buys in and approves kotlin usage, or says it's not worth it

if management says yes, you now have like 20 people who have vetted and agreed with the idea. once you start writing Kotlin it's not like EVERYTHING is all of the sudden Kotlin. it's an iterative process, and hopefully you have test coverage. you can even re-use your existing java tests since the languages are interoperable. Assuming you follow a normal development process, the odds of a catastrophic bug coming out of nowhere to cause millions of dollars of losses wouldn't even cross my mind.

that being said, assuming the current code works decently well, management will have no motivation or reason to approve a total rewrite in a new language. it's more likely that they will only approve starting to trickle in kotlin for new projects or features, which even further reduces the likelihood of a catastrophic bug happening.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

sadly, it would fail at the first step.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I convinced my Fortune 500 company to allow Kotlin as an option for our dev teams, by pointing out:

  • It's Java compatible, and easy for Java devs to pick up
  • No rewrites needed to start using Kotlin
    • You could mix and match with Java at any point
  • It reduces boilerplate code
  • It reduces overall errors and bugs (improved type safety and null safety)