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MADS 4013 Introduction to Kotlin
Kotlin Syntax Basics
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Kotlin Syntax Basics

Variables

Declaring a variable

var keyword declares a write-able variable
val keyword declares a read only variables. Use this if you know the value of the variable won’t change in the future (constants)

Implicit vs. Explicit variable declaration

Implicit variable declaration: You do not need to specify the variable type
var x = 25.0 // Kotlin compiler will guess that this is a "double"
Explicit variable declaration: You must specify the variable type
var x:Double = 25.0 // Kotlin does NOT guess becuase you told it x should be a double

Working with Mutable Lists

A mutable list is a dynamically sized array. This means that the size of the array is programatically calculated based on the number of items in the array.

Creating an empty array:

mutableListOf() → creates an empty list. Kotlin will “guess” what type of data the list contains based on either your 1) explicit variable declaration; or 2) whatever items you put in the list
mutableListOf<String>() → creates an empty list of the specified type (In this example, list of strings)

Initializing the array with items

mutableListOf(”Apple”, “Banana”, “Carrot”) → You did not specify what type of items should be in the list. But “Apple”, “banana” and “Carrot” all look like strings, so Kotlin will assume this is a list of strings.
mutableListOf<Int>(100, 80, “abcd”, 99)
You also specify that the initial items in the list are 100, 80, “abcd” and 99
By using the <Int> keyword, you specified that the list should contain integer values.
Therefore, Kotlin will check that your initial items are indeed Integers.
In this example “abcd” is a string, not an integer. So Kotlin will show an error and prevent you from proceeding!

Functions for manipulating the array

.size → returns the total number of items in the array
.get(pos) → returns the item at the specified position
.set(pos, newValue) → updates the item at the specified position with the new value
.removeAt(pos) → removes the item at the specified position
.add(item) → adds the item to the end of the list

Looping through the array

val myList:MutableList<Int> = mutableListOf(99, 100, 50, 4000)
for (currItem in myList) {
println(currItem)
}
Example 2: Looping, but having access to the current position of the item
Use the .withIndex() function
val myList:MutableList<Int> = mutableListOf(99, 100, 50, 4000)
for ((i, currentItem) in myList.withIndex()) {
println("Item in position ${i} is ${currItem}")
}

Searching the array

Example 1: Searching for an item
val myList:MutableList<Int> = mutableListOf("Bob", "Mary", "Lemon", "Alex", "Sarah")
println("Searching for a person named Alex")

var found = false
for (currItem in myList) {
if (currItem == "Alex") {
println("Item found!")
// set found to true
found = true
// exit because there's no need to keep searching
break
}
}

// decide on the results
if (found == true) {
println("Item found")
}
else {
println("Not found")
}

Variables
Declaring a variable
Implicit vs. Explicit variable declaration
Working with Mutable Lists
Creating an empty array:
Initializing the array with items
Functions for manipulating the array
Looping through the array
Searching the array
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