Give Kotlin the Boot: Pros & cons of using Kotlin vs. Java with Spring Boot

In addition to Java, developers can use Kotlin to create Spring Boot applications. But should they? What advantages does Kotlin offer over Java? What are the downsides?

Life is filled with tradeoffs, and choices are good to have. But life is better when you know the tradeoffs *before* making important decisions, and this session is built around sharing and showing some of those. As both a Java Champion and Kotlin Developer Expert, the presenter loves both children equally, but not in the same ways. Come to this session to see several places in which your choice of language could result in either promise or pitfall. All examples will be coded live & in real-time!

Transcript

1. GIVE KOTLIN THE BOOT? Pros and cons of using Kotlin vs. Java with Spring Boot Mark Heckler Principal Cloud Advocate, Java/JVM Languages markheckler@microsoft.com mark@thehecklers.com @mkheck
2. @mkheck WHO AM I? • Architect & Developer • Advocate • Author • Java Champion, Rockstar • Kotlin Developer Expert • Pilot
3. @mkheck LATEST BOOK https://bit.ly/springbootbook @springbootbook
4. @mkheck THE PLAN “To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time.” - Leonard Bernstein
5. @mkheck THE PLAN • Kotlin vis-à-vis Java • Spring Boot: a quick examination of your (many) options • Pros and Cons: facts and opinions • CODE
6. @mkheck THE DISCLAIMER • There will be facts • These will be referenceable (they ARE facts after all) • There will be opinions • I will do my best to clearly state which is which • My opinions may differ from your opinions
7. @mkheck KOTLIN AND JAVA • Kotlin’s raison d’être: “Modern, Concise, and Safe” • The wins • The losses • If you’re using Java now, why might you make the switch?
8. @mkheck ADD SOME SPRING BOOT • You have MANY options…but there ARE opinions • Groovy? • Kotlin • Java
9. @mkheck PROS AND CONS • The facts • Some opinions • YMMV
10. @mkheck
11. @mkheck
12. @mkheck SOME THOUGHTS • Syntax is very, very similar in most (Spring) cases due to excellent APIs • Compiler performance now basically equivalent • Spring code examples in Java and Kotlin • Actual Spring code is Java (except key Kotlin DSL extensions) • Do you – or do you want to – use Kotlin elsewhere?
13. @mkheck RESOURCES • https://github.com/mkheck/give-kotlin-the-boot • https://kotlinlang.org/ • https://spring.io/projects/spring-boot • markheckler@microsoft.com, mark@thehecklers.com • @mkheck on Twitter