Overview

Understand the “why” behind Kotlin patterns and practices. This section explores Kotlin’s design philosophy, best practices, and common mistakes.

What’s in Explanation

Best Practices

Kotlin Best Practices and Design Principles

Learn idiomatic Kotlin through proven patterns:

• What makes Kotlin special (design philosophy)
• Code organization best practices
• Naming conventions
• Null safety idioms
• Function design patterns
• Coroutine best practices
• Collection operation patterns
• Testing practices
• Documentation standards

Format: Principle → Rationale → Good Example → Bad Example → Exceptions

Anti-Patterns

Common Kotlin Anti-Patterns

Avoid common mistakes with clear examples:

• Java developer migration pitfalls
• Null safety violations
• Coroutine misuse patterns
• Performance anti-patterns
• Type system misuse
• Code organization issues

Format: Name → Why Problematic → Bad Example → Better Approach → Context

Severity levels: Critical, Major, Minor

Purpose of Explanation Documents

Explanation documents differ from tutorials and how-to guides:

When to Use Explanation

• Learning idioms: Understand what makes code “Kotlinic”
• Making decisions: Choose between approaches based on principles
• Code review: Identify patterns and anti-patterns
• Team standards: Establish shared conventions
• Avoiding pitfalls: Learn from common mistakes

Complementary Resources

• Tutorials: Learn Kotlin systematically
• How-To Guides: Solve specific problems
• Cookbook: Quick reference solutions

Get Started

Explore Best Practices to learn idiomatic Kotlin, or review Anti-Patterns to avoid common mistakes!