In a recent move that's set to revolutionize mobile app development, Google has announced its support for Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP), an innovative tool that enables developers to share business logic across mobile, web, server, and desktop platforms. This game-changing technology has been in the making for years, with Google Workspace being one of the first adopters.

Kotlin Multiplatform allows developers to build cross-platform apps by compiling Kotlin code into platform-native binaries while leveraging the full capabilities of a modern, memory-managed language. This approach has enabled Google Workspace teams to share business logic between different platforms, streamlining development and increasing efficiency.

Key Highlights from KotlinConf 2024

At KotlinConf 2024, the Android team unveiled an alpha version of Room with KMP support, as well as stable releases for Annotations, Collections, and DataStore. The conference also saw commonification of Lifecycle, ViewModel, and Paging libraries to enable integrations with non-Android platforms.

Technical Sessions and Keynotes

The conference kicked off with a keynote by Google's Jeffrey van Gogh, who gave an overview of Google's contributions to the Kotlin ecosystem. He highlighted how Google leverages KMP to streamline development across its own product portfolio, aligning with recent recommendations for Android app development.

Technical sessions at the conference spanned a range of topics, including:

  • A Tale of Two Languages by John Pampuch, which offered an engaging comparison of Java and Kotlin's evolution.
  • Enabling Kotlin Multiplatform Success: The Android Jetpack Journey by Elif Bilgin, Yigit Boyar, and Daniel Santiago Rivera, which provided insights into the current state of KMP in Jetpack and shared updates on KMP-enabled Jetpack libraries.
  • Going Fast with Kotlin by Andrei Shikov, which shared valuable insights gained from optimizing Compose for Android.
  • Kotlin Multiplatform in Google Workspace by Jason Parachoniak, which discussed Google Workspace's ongoing migration from a Java-oriented multiplatform foundation to Kotlin Multiplatform.

Community Engagement and Next Steps

The conference also featured a booth where attendees could chat with engineers, get their questions answered, and learn more about how they can leverage Kotlin and KMP. For those who missed the event, updated docs and a new mobile sample on KMP are now available online.

Looking ahead, we're excited to see how you'll adopt and build the next generation of apps using KMP. We're planning to add KMP support to more AndroidX libraries and would love to hear your feedback or come across any issues.

Thanks to KotlinConf organizers, speakers, attendees, and the entire Kotlin community for making this event happen and bringing Kotlin enthusiasts together.