Posted by Márton Braun, Developer Relations Engineer
The Kotlin compiler is being rewritten for Kotlin 2.0. The brand new compiler implementation–codenamed K2–brings with it vital construct pace enhancements, compiling Kotlin code as much as twice as quick as the unique compiler. It additionally has a extra versatile structure that can allow the introduction of latest language options after 2.0.
Strive the brand new compiler
With Kotlin 1.9, K2 is now obtainable in Beta for JVM targets, together with Android tasks. To assist stabilize the brand new compiler and be sure you’re prepared for Kotlin 2.0, we encourage you to attempt compiling your tasks with the brand new compiler. When you run into any points, you may report them on the Kotlin subject tracker.
To attempt the brand new compiler, replace to Kotlin 1.9 and add the next to your venture’s gradle.properties file:
kotlin.experimental.tryK2=true
Notice that the brand new compiler shouldn’t be used for manufacturing builds but. A great method for attempting it early is to create a separate department in your venture for compiling with K2. You will discover an instance of this within the Now in Android repository.
Tooling help
Plugins and instruments that rely upon the Kotlin compiler frontend will even must be up to date so as to add help for K2. Some instruments have already got experimental help for constructing with K2: the Jetpack Compose compiler plugin helps K2 beginning in 1.5.0, which is suitable with Kotlin 1.9.
Android Lint additionally helps K2 beginning in model 8.2.0-alpha12. To run Lint on K2, improve to this model and add android.lint.useK2Uast=true to your gradle.properties file. Notice that any customized lint guidelines that depend on APIs from the previous frontend should be up to date to make use of the evaluation API as an alternative.
Including K2 help in different instruments remains to be in progress: KSP and KAPT duties at the moment fall again to utilizing the previous compiler when constructing your venture with K2. Nevertheless, compilation duties can nonetheless run utilizing K2 when these instruments are used.
Android Studio additionally depends on the Kotlin compiler for code evaluation. Till Android Studio has help for K2, constructing with K2 may end in some discrepancies between the code evaluation of the IDE and command line builds in sure edge circumstances.
When you use any extra compiler plugins, verify their documentation to see whether or not they’re suitable with K2 but.
Get began with the K2 compiler at this time
The Kotlin 2.0 Compiler presents vital enhancements that will help you ship updates sooner, be extra productive, and spend extra time specializing in what makes your app distinctive.
It already works with Jetpack Compose and we have now a roadmap to enhance help in different instruments, together with Android Studio, KSP, and compiler plugins. Now is a good time to attempt it in your app’s codebase and supply suggestions associated to Kotlin, Compose, or Lint.
