100 Days of Kotlin-Day 1: Kotlin Unleashed — A Journey Begins

Welcome to Day 1 of our 100 Days of Learning Kotlin! Today, we embark on an exciting adventure into the world of Kotlin programming. In this post, we’ll lay the groundwork by installing Kotlin and setting up your IDE. So, grab your coding gear, buckle up, and let’s dive in!

Installing Kotlin and Setting Up Your IDE:

To start coding in Kotlin, you’ll need to set up the necessary tools on your machine. Let’s walk through the steps to install Kotlin and configure your Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

Step 1: Install Kotlin

To install Kotlin, follow these instructions based on your operating system:

Windows:

• Download the Kotlin Compiler (Kotlinc) from the official Kotlin website.
• Extract the downloaded file to a location of your choice.
• Add the Kotlin compiler’s bin directory to your system's PATH environment variable.

macOS:

• Install Kotlin using Homebrew by running the following command in your terminal:

brew install kotlin

Linux:

• Install Kotlin using SDKMAN. Open your terminal and run the following commands:

curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash
source "$HOME/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh"
sdk install kotlin

Step 2: Choose an IDE

While Kotlin can be edited with any text editor, using an IDE can greatly enhance your productivity. Here are two popular IDE options:

• IntelliJ IDEA: JetBrains’ IntelliJ IDEA provides excellent support for Kotlin and is widely used by developers. You can download the Community Edition, which is free and open-source, or opt for the Ultimate Edition with additional features.
• Android Studio: If you’re primarily interested in Android development, Android Studio is a great choice. It includes Kotlin support out of the box and comes bundled with various tools and libraries for Android app development.

Step 3: Configure Your IDE

After installing your chosen IDE, follow these steps to configure it for Kotlin development:

1. Launch your IDE and open the settings/preferences.
2. In the plugins/extensions section, search for “Kotlin” and install the Kotlin plugin.
3. Restart your IDE to activate the Kotlin plugin.

Step 4: Create Your First Kotlin Project

Now that everything is set up, let’s create a new Kotlin project:

1. Open your IDE and choose the option to create a new project.
2. Select “Kotlin” as the project type.
3. Specify the project details such as location and name.
4. Click “Finish” to create the project.

Congratulations! You’re now ready to write Kotlin code in your IDE. You can start exploring the vast possibilities of Kotlin and experimenting with the concepts we’ll cover throughout this series.

Note: If you prefer a simpler setup or want to try Kotlin in an online editor without installing anything, you can use Kotlin Playground. It’s a web-based environment that allows you to write and run Kotlin code directly in your browser.