JetBrains has recently released a stable version of Kotlin Multiplatform for the first time. The tool allows developers to build applications and reuse code for multiple platforms more easily.
Kotlin Multiplatform is a technology that JetBrains developed in beta form in 2022. This technology allows developers to share and reuse code across platforms. Examples include iOS, Android, Windows, macOS as well as web and server-side environments.
In this way, it is possible to easily create applications while retaining the benefits of native programming for these platforms thanks to the added translation layer.
Stable version
In the newly released stable version, the technology offers such features as a fully stabilized API, simplified project configuration and better interoperability with Objective-C and Swift. Other improvements include faster build times and other performance enhancements, JetBrains indicates.
A key benefit of the technology includes the flexibility it gives developers. Developers can share only part of their app’s logic and only write native code when they want to interact with platform-specific APIs or build native user interfaces.
When Kotlin Multiplatform is combined with another tool from JetBrains (Compose Multiplatform for sharing user interfaces across multiple platforms), developers gain even more capabilities. For example, they can then share their entire codebase in Kotlin.
Future updates
JetBrains plans to further extend the Kotlin Multiplatform technology in the near future. For example, future versions should improve the user experience of iOS developers through direct Kotlin-to-Swift interoperability and SwiftPM support.
Compose Multiplatform will also continue to be developed, such as a beta version for iOS in 2024. Furthermore, Kotlin/Wasm is also being further iterated upon to facilitate modern web development within Kotlin Multiplatform.
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