Kotlin: An Illustrated Guide
Kotlin: An Illustrated Guide
The fun way to learn Kotlin programming, one concept at a time!
About the Book
Note that you can read the main content of this book online at https://typealias.com/start. By purchasing this Leanpub edition, you'll get a PDF of the book, which you can read offline and mark up with your favorite PDF application. Plus, you'll be supporting the author!
Who is this book for?
If you’re interested in learning Kotlin development, this book is for you. Everyone has a unique experience - some readers are new to software development entirely, some are new to Kotlin development, and some are existing Kotlin developers who want a deeper understanding of certain language concepts.
My approach in this book is to explain Kotlin programming concepts with simple, tangible, and illustrated examples, so that regardless of your experience level, things will make sense. I do my best to define terms clearly before using them, so that each chapter builds upon a solid foundation of knowledge from the previous chapters.
Even if you already know some of the concepts presented in this book, my goal is to give those concepts such a fun and vivid presentation that you’ll enjoy reading about them again! I hope that will give you a definite clarity about them, shining light on the foggy corners of concepts that you might have wondered about.
What’s the current state of this book?
The core content of the book is complete, and now I'm working on a few last things before the book is fully complete:
- All 20 chapters are complete.
- A few small appendices will be added, as well.
- Illustrations are being updated for PDF and print resolution. Chapters 1-19 now have their full-resolution images... just one more chapter to go!
- The layout will be optimized to make everything flow well and to minimize blank space.
Release Notes
v0.20.19 - December 12, 2024
Chapter 19 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.18 - December 9, 2024
Chapter 18 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.17 - December 3, 2024
Chapter 17 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.16 - November 24, 2024
Chapter 16 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.15 - October 24, 2024
Chapter 15 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.14 - October 21, 2024
Chapter 14 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.13 - October 18, 2024
Chapter 13 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.8 - v0.20.12 - October 10, 2024
Chapters 8-12 now have their full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.7 - October 4, 2024
Chapter 7 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.6 - October 1, 2024
Chapter 6 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.5 - September 10, 2024
Chapter 5 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.4 - September 6, 2024
Chapter 4 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.3 - September 4, 2024
Chapter 3 now has its full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.2 - September 3, 2024
Chapters 1-2 now have their full-resolution illustrations.
v0.20.1 - June 25, 2024
Chapter 20: Coroutine Essentials - Incorporated feedback from readers, and added captions to all code listings.
v0.20.0 - June 18, 2024
Chapter 20: Coroutine Essentials - This chapter has been promoted out of draft.
v0.20.b - June 8, 2024
Incorporated some reader feedback, and updated some illustrations in Chapter 20.
v0.20.a - May 17, 2024
Chapter 20: Coroutine Essentials - A draft of this chapter is now available.
v0.19.0 - April 19, 2024
Chapter 19: Generic Variance - Promoted out of draft, with full illustrations and edits.
v0.19.b - March 26, 2024
Chapter 18: Generics - Incorporated reader feedback, and fixed a few incorrect code listing numbers.
v0.19.a - March 19, 2024
Chapter 19: Generic Variance - This chapter is now available in draft form.
v0.18.0 - March 15, 2024
Chapter 18: Generics - This chapter has its full illustrations now, and has been promoted out of draft.
v0.18.b - March 6, 2024
Added table-of-contents bookmarks for the PDF, so that you can easily jump to a chapter from anywhere in the book. Eventually a bookmark will also be included for each top-level section under each chapter, but for the moment they're included only at the chapter level.
v0.18.a - February 19, 2024
Chapter 18: Generics - Draft version of this chapter has been published.
v0.17.0 - February 16, 2024
Chapter 17: Handling Runtime Exceptions - This chapter is now fully illustrated, and has been promoted out of draft.
v0.17.a - January 15, 2024
Chapter 17: Handling Runtime Exceptions - Draft version is now included. Let me know what you think about it via the feedback link at the top of each page!
v0.16.0 - January 10, 2024
Chapter 16: Sealed Types - Revisions and illustrations are completed and this chapter is now promoted out of draft.
v0.16.b - December 14, 2023
The feedback link was confusing for readers who hadn't already signed up for this book's discussion forum on Leanpub, so I moved the feedback to a new URL.
In order to be able to create a print edition of the book in the future, the pages had been set up for a wider inner margin, which is needed to accommodate the binding in a printed book. This made for a less optimal reading experience in a PDF, though, since the content on even pages was farther to the left, and the content on odd pages was farther to the right. In this version, I've centered the content, so that it's spaced consistently from page to page.
v0.16.a - December 13, 2023
Chapter 16: Sealed Types - Published in draft form, and ready to receive feedback.
v0.15.0 - November 14, 2023
Initial Leanpub edition, with the 15 chapters that have been previously published at https://typealias.com/start.
About the Author
Team Discounts
Get a team discount on this book!
Table of Contents
- Completed Chapters:
- 1 - Variables, Expressions, and Types
- 2 - Functions
- 3 - Conditionals: When and If
- 4 - Introduction to Classes and Objects
- 5 - Enum Classes in Kotlin
- 6 - Nulls and Null Safety
- 7 - Lambdas and Function References
- 8 - Collections: Lists and Sets
- 9 - Collections: Maps
- 10 - Receivers and Extensions
- 11 - Scopes and Scope Functions
- 12 - Introduction to Interfaces
- 13 - Introduction to Class Delegation
- 14 - Inheritance and Abstract Classes
- 15 - Data Classes and Destructuring
- 16 - Sealed Classes
- 17 - Handling Runtime Exceptions
- 18 - Generics
- 19 - Generic Variance
- 20 - Introduction to Coroutines
- Remaining:
- Appendices
- Upscale illustrations from earlier chapters
- Finalize the layout to reduce blank space
The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
Now, this is technically risky for us, since you'll have the book or course files either way. But we're so confident in our products and services, and in our authors and readers, that we're happy to offer a full money back guarantee for everything we sell.
You can only find out how good something is by trying it, and because of our 100% money back guarantee there's literally no risk to do so!
So, there's no reason not to click the Add to Cart button, is there?
See full terms...
Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase
We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.
(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)
In fact, authors have earnedover $14 millionwriting, publishing and selling on Leanpub.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers) and EPUB (for phones, tablets and Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
