Why Learn Kotlin?
Tags: kotlin, programming, beginners, 100daysofcode
Published: 2021-04-28 18:00:55

---
title: Why Learn Kotlin?
published: true
description: Insights on how and why to get started with the Kotlin programming language, and a chance to win some awesome Kotlin books!
tags: kotlin,programming,beginners,100daysofcode
cover_image: https://blog.jetbrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Atomic-Kotlin-blogpost-01-1.png
canonical_url: https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2021/04/why-learn-kotlin/
---

_Ksenia Shneyveys, Kotlin Marketing Manager for Education, shares insights on how and why to get started with the Kotlin programming language_. 

**We would love to hear about your own motivations for learning Kotlin by [leaving your story on our official blog!](https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2021/04/why-learn-kotlin/) If you share your story with us, you will also have the chance to win an “[Atomic Kotlin](https://leanpub.com/AtomicKotlin)” ebook!**

Kotlin has always been and continues to be a modern language in the industry, addressing the real needs of real developers. It is increasingly being adopted in many trending fields, including [mobile](https://kotlinlang.org/lp/mobile/), [web](https://kotlinlang.org/docs/js-overview.html), [server-side](https://kotlinlang.org/lp/server-side/) and cloud development, [data science](https://kotlinlang.org/docs/data-science-overview.html), and [education](https://kotlinlang.org/education/).

This all gives a strong indication that there is already significant demand for Kotlin developers and there will continue to be in the future.

So where can you start learning this skill? “[Atomic Kotlin](https://leanpub.com/AtomicKotlin)”!

This book is suited for Kotlin learners of all levels, and it is available in print and as an ebook. It breaks Kotlin programming language concepts into atoms, and provides hands-on exercises inside IntelliJ IDEA.

To celebrate the recent release of “Atomic Kotlin”, we asked our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/kotlin) community to share their motivation for learning Kotlin. You all did not disappoint! There were a lot of great responses from the community, and we saw a couple of patterns emerging. In this post, we are going to share with you some of the answers people gave about why Kotlin is a great language to learn.

<p align="center"><a class="jb-download-button" title="Buy your copy" href="https://leanpub.com/AtomicKotlin">Buy your copy</a></p>


## Modern Language


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a> <br>I love Kotlin because it is clean, logical, safe, fast, modern, flexible, intuitive, versatile, and sits on the shoulder of the Java giant.</p>&mdash; Jan Meww (@JanMeww) <a href="https://twitter.com/JanMeww/status/1367028610335399937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2021</a></blockquote>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a> I want to learn more about Kotlin because of the modern syntax and some new ideas (e.g. coroutines) it brings to the current Java Web Development. Have tried it for some weeks and has been a bliss!!!</p>&mdash; Fabio Salas (@fabiosalasm) <a href="https://twitter.com/fabiosalasm/status/1366842511306723333?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2021</a></blockquote>


Kotlin is a modern programming language that combines all the best bits of imperative, object-oriented, and functional programming. It is general-purpose and multi-paradigm, and conciseness and safety are some of the language's key features.

## Easy to Learn

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Why I want to learn Kotlin? well..You don’t come across a language that often which is as elegant and easy to learn like Kotlin. To put icing on the cake it can coexist with your Java ecosystems as well ..what more can you ask <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a></p>&mdash; Nirmal (@thooskoo) <a href="https://twitter.com/thooskoo/status/1371518867281956866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2021</a>
</blockquote>

[Kotlin’s syntax](https://kotlinlang.org/docs/basic-syntax.html) is simple to grasp for beginners, while at the same time, the language offers sophisticated powerful features for experienced programmers.

Kotlin can build on the learners’ previous programming experience. It is simple to grasp for those with a Java or Python background. Kotlin’s syntax is also easy to learn for iOS developers because it is based on the same modern concepts they are already familiar with.

## Great Materials

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have gone through the sample of Atomic kotlin book, solved exercises from github repo. It&#39;s truely awesome &amp; I want to learn the whole content. I want to use only one language to most of my application development to ship it to different platform - Kotlin <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a></p>&mdash; Kalaiselvan (@kalaiselvan369) <a href="https://twitter.com/kalaiselvan369/status/1367862374200315906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2021</a></blockquote>


There is a lot of up-to-date material available to help you learn Kotlin. One of our favorite resources for learning Kotlin from scratch is “[Atomic Kotlin](https://leanpub.com/AtomicKotlin)”. Readers can see their progress while solving the tasks that are checked automatically within [IntelliJ IDEA](https://www.jetbrains.com/edu-products/download/#section=idea). There are hints and solutions to help them out if they get stuck. All the examples in "Atomic Kotlin" are available in this [GitHub repository](https://github.com/BruceEckel/AtomicKotlinExamples). You can compile, run, and test the examples which are automatically extracted directly from the book.

<p align="center"><a class="jb-download-button" title="Buy your copy" href="https://leanpub.com/AtomicKotlin">Buy your copy</a></p>

You can learn what the authors of "Atomic Kotlin", [Bruce Eckel](https://www.mindviewllc.com/) and Svetlana Isakova, think about learning the language in this episode of the JetBrains Connect series. In it, they discuss the question of why to learn Kotlin, with host Paul Everitt:

{% youtube 0V-qp-qpjzU %}

## Multiplatform

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a> <br><br>Want to learn Kotlin since I want to be a multi platform developer &amp; focus more on building the product in different platforms rather than on learning different languages. I believe Kotlin would give me feathers to fly between platforms &amp; reach my true potential.</p>&mdash; jplus (@jplus62611121) <a href="https://twitter.com/jplus62611121/status/1371451253377486859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2021</a></blockquote>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I&#39;m a Ruby developer but want to learn Kotlin as my next language because it have all signs of a modern and concise programming language and it reads well too, which is important. I can build various things with it starting from API to fully-fledged Android app. Fun <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a></p>&mdash; Костромицкий Денис (@mojobiri) <a href="https://twitter.com/mojobiri/status/1367405922864271362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2021</a></blockquote>


As a language that supports multiplatform targets, you can run Kotlin on virtually any device these days, be it a PC or a Mac, and also as native code. This means you can build mobile, web frontend, and backend applications with Kotlin as well.

In addition to being the official language for Android development, Kotlin is a proven technology for building cross-platform mobile applications. It eliminates all the disadvantages of other leading approaches and lets you create mobile apps with native performance and UIs while sharing the business logic completely. Visit the [Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile portal](https://kotlinlang.org/lp/mobile/) to learn more.

## Progression from Java

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I really like the JVM, and I already know some Kotlin, but I would definitely like to learn more and get better at it, and learn more about the JVM too. Kotlin combines a lot of features from languages that I really like. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a></p>&mdash; Moiré (@Moire9_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Moire9_/status/1367544838569160714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2021</a></blockquote>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Because I’m finishing my studies which were heavily focused on Java and I just started a job in which I use Kotlin every day. No reason not to exceed the expectations! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a></p>&mdash; Bartosz Rogowski (@rogowskibart) <a href="https://twitter.com/rogowskibart/status/1370813212086706177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2021</a></blockquote>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a><br>Because I want to write Kotlin, not Java with Kotlin syntax. Currently coding together with Spring and I love it.</p>&mdash; MeSmash (@MeSmash3) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeSmash3/status/1366829146777792525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2021</a></blockquote>


Kotlin’s interoperability allows it to be introduced seamlessly anywhere you’re already using Java. Kotlin fixes some of the issues Java suffers from and has some features that are absent from Java.

## Career prospects

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As a self-learner, I started with a couple of Java courses in December. Since then I&#39;ve been pursuing Kotlin and have been engaged in learning the Kotlin ecosystem to land my first dev job! Having material to build on my foundation of the language will be impactful! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a></p>&mdash; Bryan (@Lidberg_B) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lidberg_B/status/1370850705251180552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2021</a>
</blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Knowing, cOncise, pragmaTic, Legible, sImple, perfomiNg... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a><br>My learning with these features will make my career grow and my university dream came true through this language.</p>&mdash; Miguel Paulista (@mikePaulista_13) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikePaulista_13/status/1369329285656350723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2021</a></blockquote>


[Many great companies](https://kotlinlang.org/#usage-highlights) already use Kotlin to build their products, and Kotlin skills are increasingly in demand as more and more businesses are adopting the language. Indeed, the number of Kotlin job postings has skyrocketed by 1400% since 2017 (Source: [Dice](https://insights.dice.com/2019/06/24/kotlin-how-why-tech-professionals-use-it/)).

## Community Driven

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a> Kotlin is a community driven language and they give great importance for the feedback from devs. I feel good to be invested in such Lang and I believe it has a great future!</p>&mdash;     (@GopalAkshintala) <a href="https://twitter.com/GopalAkshintala/status/1366948847881101315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2021</a></blockquote>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Because I&#39;m believing in Kotlin Team and their works(books, features, libraries and everything made by Kotlin)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/atomickotlin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#atomickotlin</a></p>&mdash; Hamza GATTAL (@hmzgtl05) <a href="https://twitter.com/hmzgtl05/status/1370832650429202434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2021</a></blockquote>


Since its very beginning in 2011, Kotlin has been developed as an open-source language.

Kotlin evolves with the help of our [diverse community](https://kotlinlang.org/community/), which includes almost [200 Kotlin User Groups](https://kotlinlang.org/user-groups/user-group-list.html), 37K+ [Kotlinlang Slack](https://surveys.jetbrains.com/s3/kotlin-slack-sign-up) users, and countless other members spread across our [forum](https://discuss.kotlinlang.org/), our [sub-Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Kotlin/), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP7uiEZIqci43m22KDl0sNw), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/kotlin), and many other platforms. Over 450 contributors are working on Kotlin, including 90 JetBrains developers.

Your feedback provides the basis for [our roadmap](https://kotlinlang.org/docs/roadmap.html). Thank you for your continued support!

## Why did you Learn Kotlin?

If you haven’t already taken up Kotlin, we hope that this post has left you feeling inspired to do so. We would love to hear about your own motivations for learning Kotlin by [leaving your story on our official blog!](https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2021/04/why-learn-kotlin/) If you share your story with us, you will also have the chance to win an “[Atomic Kotlin](https://leanpub.com/AtomicKotlin)” ebook!


We’ll select 5 winners from the commenters on [blog.jetbrains.com](https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2021/04/why-learn-kotlin/) on May 12.