Of all the features discussed in 2019 (Text Blocks, Records, Sealed Classes or virtual threads), the only one that hasn’t been delivered is Local Methods – all the others we can already use in Java. And since that has just taken place, it’s time for summaries. Based on the JEPs available then, he wondered which of Kotlin’s then-existing advantages would still be viable at the release of Java 19. At the end of 2019, Jake Wharton – well known in the Android community – published a set of predictions about how quickly Java would be able to catch up with its younger cousin. Lest it would be just my DoomSaying, however, there are more voices like that. There would probably be nothing particularly disturbing about this for the language if it weren’t for how strongly it has affected the competition. This makes it a long time since we’ve had something in Kotlin that has made any kind of significant impact and hype, and a kind of “runaway” in Multiplatform is also dragging a bit.

It continues to be Kotlin’s sore point, despite the incredible step forward from my first experiments back in 2018. We must remember that focus on the speed of compilation is crucial. Or at least through lenses of release notes.

Kotlin java 17