Introduction
Kotlin's story begins inside JetBrains, the company that builds IntelliJ IDEA. Frustrated with limitations in Java for their own tooling needs, JetBrains engineers started designing a new JVM language. Understanding this history helps explain many of Kotlin's design goals: interoperability with Java, tooling-friendliness, and a strong focus on safety and conciseness.
Cricket analogy: Just as Kookaburra redesigned its cricket ball after players complained about seam durability in Test matches, JetBrains redesigned their programming language after their own IntelliJ engineers hit Java's limitations building tools.
Syntax
// Checking the Kotlin compiler version from the command line
// kotlinc -versionExplanation
JetBrains first announced Kotlin publicly in 2011 as a new language for the JVM. After years of development and community feedback, Kotlin 1.0 was officially released in February 2016, marking JetBrains' commitment to long-term backward compatibility. A major turning point came at Google I/O 2017, when Google announced first-class, official support for Kotlin on Android. In 2019, Google went further and declared Kotlin the preferred ('Kotlin-first') language for Android app development, cementing its place in the mobile ecosystem alongside its continued growth in backend, multiplatform, and data science use cases.
Cricket analogy: Like the T20 format being trialed in county cricket in 2003 before becoming an official ICC World Cup format years later, Kotlin was announced in 2011, matured through 1.0 in 2016, then gained official Google backing in 2017 and 2019.
Example
// A simplified timeline represented as data
data class Milestone(val year: Int, val event: String)
fun main() {
val timeline = listOf(
Milestone(2011, "Kotlin publicly announced by JetBrains"),
Milestone(2016, "Kotlin 1.0 released"),
Milestone(2017, "Google announces official Android support"),
Milestone(2019, "Google names Kotlin the preferred language for Android")
)
timeline.forEach { println("${it.year}: ${it.event}") }
}
/* Output:
2011: Kotlin publicly announced by JetBrains
2016: Kotlin 1.0 released
2017: Google announces official Android support
2019: Google names Kotlin the preferred language for Android
*/Key Takeaways
- Kotlin was first announced by JetBrains in 2011.
- Kotlin 1.0, the first stable release, launched in February 2016.
- Google announced official Android support for Kotlin at Google I/O 2017.
- In 2019 Google declared Kotlin its preferred language for Android development.
- Kotlin's design was influenced by JetBrains' own tooling needs and Java interoperability goals.
Practice what you learned
1. In what year was Kotlin first publicly announced by JetBrains?
2. When was Kotlin 1.0 officially released?
3. At which event did Google announce official Android support for Kotlin?
4. When did Google declare Kotlin the 'Kotlin-first' preferred language for Android?
5. Which company created Kotlin?
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