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Curious as to what parts of Kotlin you think are falling behind Java. Java has been playing catch-up forever. Java just implemented light weight threads - corou

Curious as to what parts of Kotlin you think are falling behind Java. Java has been playing catch-up forever. Java just implemented light weight threads - coroutines in Kotlin which I've been using for years. I've used data classes forever and, again, Java just recently implemented their equivalent - records. Sealed classes are the only feature I can think of but not a must-have for me. What am I missing? For some background, I've been a Java developer for over 10 years. I work with Kotlin and Java daily - my company has a backend written in Kotlin and many ancillary services in Java. I prefer Kotlin - it's a joy to write in. JetBrains hit a sweet spot by being able to mix functional and imperative coding.

valenterry 3y ago
A good example is the latest pattern-matching addendums to Java which are lacking in Kotlin in comparison. Sealed classes (aka coproducts/sumtypes) are another and are an essential part of any programming language, on the same level es enums. I think you are experiencing the blub-paradox in this case. Yes, Java has been (and is still) playing catch-up, but there has been some serious progress recently and when features come, they tend to be better than the Kotlin counterparts from what I can tell. That being said, I'm not claiming that Java is better than Kotlin right now. But when projecting into the future, I doubt that Kotlin has one, sorry to say that. A couple of years ago I would have said the exact opposite, but Java has really stepped up since then.
- 4RealFreedom 3y ago
  Wait, if sealed classes are essential, how did java survive so long without them? Possibly a nice-to-have but essential? To say Kotlin doesn't have a future when it is one of the widest used languages is a stretch. I think it's great that Java has been stepping up their feature development. I will continue to use both.
  - valenterry 3y ago
    Well, java "survived" without it because, at the time, most other languages didn't have sumtypes either. But almost every new/modern language does. Exceptions are rare (golang is one of them and even for golang there are discussions: https://github.com/golang/go/issues/57644 https://github.com/golang/go/issues/57644) > To say Kotlin doesn't have a future when it is one of the widest used languages is a stretch Well, let me say it like that: if Java and Kotlin continue to progress with the same speed like they do now, then Kotlin will not be a "better Java" anymore and the only selling-point will be IDE support (if that's even possible).
    - 4RealFreedom 3y ago
      Kotlin is a 'better Java' because of the ability to mix functional and imperative code. Java will never do that. I don't know what you mean about 'IDE support'. Neither of them are going anywhere.
      - valenterry 3y ago
        Kotlin is made by Jetbrains which make IntelliJ - so IDE support is a plus-point for Kotlin. That is what I meant. I think Java has become way more functional over time. It is not and probably never will properly support a pure functional style (e.g. like Scala) but I don't see it much behind compared to Kotlin. Mind to give some examples where Java is behind Kotlin in this context?

valenterry 3y ago

A good example is the latest pattern-matching addendums to Java which are lacking in Kotlin in comparison. Sealed classes (aka coproducts/sumtypes) are another and are an essential part of any programming language, on the same level es enums. I think you are experiencing the blub-paradox in this case. Yes, Java has been (and is still) playing catch-up, but there has been some serious progress recently and when features come, they tend to be better than the Kotlin counterparts from what I can tell. That being said, I'm not claiming that Java is better than Kotlin right now. But when projecting into the future, I doubt that Kotlin has one, sorry to say that. A couple of years ago I would have said the exact opposite, but Java has really stepped up since then.

4RealFreedom 3y ago
Wait, if sealed classes are essential, how did java survive so long without them? Possibly a nice-to-have but essential? To say Kotlin doesn't have a future when it is one of the widest used languages is a stretch. I think it's great that Java has been stepping up their feature development. I will continue to use both.
- valenterry 3y ago
  Well, java "survived" without it because, at the time, most other languages didn't have sumtypes either. But almost every new/modern language does. Exceptions are rare (golang is one of them and even for golang there are discussions: https://github.com/golang/go/issues/57644 https://github.com/golang/go/issues/57644) > To say Kotlin doesn't have a future when it is one of the widest used languages is a stretch Well, let me say it like that: if Java and Kotlin continue to progress with the same speed like they do now, then Kotlin will not be a "better Java" anymore and the only selling-point will be IDE support (if that's even possible).
  - 4RealFreedom 3y ago
    Kotlin is a 'better Java' because of the ability to mix functional and imperative code. Java will never do that. I don't know what you mean about 'IDE support'. Neither of them are going anywhere.
    - valenterry 3y ago
      Kotlin is made by Jetbrains which make IntelliJ - so IDE support is a plus-point for Kotlin. That is what I meant. I think Java has become way more functional over time. It is not and probably never will properly support a pure functional style (e.g. like Scala) but I don't see it much behind compared to Kotlin. Mind to give some examples where Java is behind Kotlin in this context?