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My previous post went into my opinion about the Kotlin programming language, and why I like it so much. This post will help give a short insight on why Kotlin could be the next JavaScript-like language.
JS is used almost everywhere. It’s used on the client for static websites, in frameworks like Svelte for dynamic websites, and as a backend core platform for server-side actions, especially when paired with TypeScript. JS has expanded to almost every corner of the technical universe. New, vibrant frameworks get released almost every month, with interest in the old dipping back and forth (depending on what you read).
Kotlin’s JavaScript transpiler allows you to use all of these features in Kotlin while coding in your favorite programming language. Similar to Java, you can simply drop in new Kotlin code alongside existing JavaScript code for interoperability. It’s what makes Kotlin so unique and unparalleled: you can just replace your code with it. This simple yet powerful design is why I believe Kotlin could see a massive increase in usage over the next 10-15 years.
Kotlin essentially brought together everything good in all the other programming languages. For example, you have optional semicolons (which is extremely useful depending on what I was working on previously), entry point main functions like in C/C++, string interpolation from Perl/PHP, type inference like in Python, extension functions from C#, and many more.
Kotlin is definitely seeing significant growth since it was announced in 2011, and stable in 2016. While still technically a “new” language, its users tripled between 2021 and 2023. It’s extremely popular in Android applications, although its usage has been growing in other positions between 2022-2023, like with server-side development.
To wrap up my conclusion as to why Kotlin could be the “new” JavaScript, it’s simply because of all of the things it brings together from other languages, and the fact that it serves as a drop-in replacement to your old code. You just plop Kotlin code in there, and it can work with your existing code base, which is what JetBrains designed it for. That’s why it’s my favorite programming language; almost all the languages I work with can use Kotlin in some kind of way. And, that’s why it might be the most popular language in a decade or two.