Setting Up Kotlin in IntelliJ and Android Studio

Tutorial 2 of 5

Introduction

This tutorial aims to guide you on how to setup Kotlin in IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio. Kotlin is a statically typed programming language developed by JetBrains, the same company that developed the IntelliJ IDEA, hence they work perfectly together. It is also fully supported in Android Studio, making it a great choice for Android app development.

By the end of this tutorial, you will have a working Kotlin setup on both IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio. You will also learn how to create new Kotlin projects and run them.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have the latest versions of IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio installed on your computer. Basic knowledge of these IDEs and programming in general is helpful but not necessary.

Step-by-Step Guide

Setting Up Kotlin in IntelliJ IDEA

  1. Open IntelliJ IDEA and click on File -> New -> Project.

  2. In the new window, select Kotlin on the left side and Kotlin/JVM on the right side.

  3. Click Next, give your project a name, and click Finish.

Setting Up Kotlin in Android Studio

  1. Open Android Studio and click on File -> New -> New Project.

  2. In the new window, select Empty Activity and click Next.

  3. In the Language dropdown, select Kotlin.

  4. Click Finish to create your new Kotlin Android project.

Code Examples

Hello World in Kotlin (IntelliJ IDEA)

Here is a simple Hello World program in Kotlin.

fun main() {
    println("Hello, World!")
}

Hello World in Kotlin (Android Studio)

In Android Studio, Kotlin code can be used to create user interfaces and handle user interactions. Here is a simple example of an Activity written in Kotlin.

import android.os.Bundle
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.widget.TextView

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        val textView = findViewById<TextView>(R.id.textView)
        textView.text = "Hello, World!"
    }
}

Summary

In this tutorial, we learned how to setup Kotlin in IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio, how to create a new Kotlin project, and how to write and run a simple Hello World program.

To continue your learning journey, I recommend exploring more Kotlin syntax, learning about its powerful features like null safety and data classes, and building simple projects.

Practice Exercises

  1. Modify the Hello World program to print your name.

Solution: Replace "Hello, World!" with "Hello, YourName!".

  1. Create a new Kotlin Activity in Android Studio that displays a Button. When the Button is clicked, a text message should be displayed.

Solution:

import android.os.Bundle
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.widget.Button
import android.widget.Toast

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        val button = findViewById<Button>(R.id.button)
        button.setOnClickListener {
            Toast.makeText(this, "Button clicked!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
        }
    }
}
  1. Create a new Kotlin class in IntelliJ IDEA. The class should have a function that takes two integers as input and returns their sum.

Solution:

class Calculator {
    fun add(a: Int, b: Int): Int {
        return a + b
    }
}

Happy coding!