Lesson 2:
Functions
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 1
v1.0
About this lesson
Lesson 2: Functions
○ Programs in Kotlin
○ (Almost) Everything has a value
○ Functions in Kotlin
○ Compact functions
○ Lambdas and higher-order functions
○ List filters
○ Summary
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 2
Programs in Kotlin
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 3
Setting up
Before you can write code and run programs, you need to:
● Create a file in your project
● Create a main() function
● Pass arguments to main()(Optional)
● Use any passed arguments in function calls (Optional)
● Run your program
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 4
Create a new Kotlin file
In IntelliJ IDEA's Project pane, under Hello World, right-click the src
folder.
● Select New > Kotlin File/Class.
● Select File, name the file Hello, and press Enter.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 5
Create a Kotlin file
You should now see a file in the src folder called Hello.kt.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 6
Create a main() function
main() is the entry point for execution for a Kotlin program.
In the Hello.kt file:
fun main(args: Array<String>) {
println("Hello, world!")
}
The args in the main() function are optional.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 7
Run your Kotlin program
To run your program, click the Run icon ( ) to the left of the main()
function.
IntelliJ IDEA runs the program, and displays the results in the console.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 8
Pass arguments to main()
Select Run > Edit Configurations to open the Run/Debug
Configurations window.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 9
Use arguments in main()
Use args[0] to access the first input argument passed to main().
fun main(args: Array<String>) {
println("Hello, ${args[0]}")
}
⇒ Hello, Kotlin!
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 10
(Almost) Everything has a
value
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 11
(Almost) Everything is an
expression
In Kotlin, almost everything is an expression and has a value. Even an
if expression has a value.
val temperature = 20
val isHot = if (temperature > 40) true else false
println(isHot)
⇒ false
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 12
Expression values
Sometimes, that value is kotlin.Unit.
val isUnit = println("This is an expression")
println(isUnit)
⇒ This is an expression
kotlin.Unit
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 13
Functions in Kotlin
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 14
About functions
● A block of code that performs a specific task
● Breaks a large program into smaller modular chunks
● Declared using the fun keyword
● Can take arguments with either named or default
values
15
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license.
Parts of a function
Earlier, you created a simple function that printed "Hello World".
fun printHello() {
println("Hello World")
}
printHello()
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 16
Unit returning functions
If a function does not return any useful value, its return type is Unit.
fun printHello(name: String?): Unit {
println("Hi there!")
}
Unit is a type with only one value: Unit.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 17
Unit returning functions
The Unit return type declaration is optional.
fun printHello(name: String?): Unit {
println("Hi there!")
}
is equivalent to:
fun printHello(name: String?) {
println("Hi there!")
}
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 18
Function arguments
Functions may have:
● Default parameters
● Required parameters
● Named arguments
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 19
Default parameters
Default values provide a fallback if no parameter value is passed.
fun drive(speed: String = "fast") {
println("driving $speed")
}
Use "=" after the
type
drive() ⇒ driving fast to define default
values
drive("slow") ⇒ driving slowly
drive(speed = "turtle-like") ⇒ driving turtle-like
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 20
Required parameters
If no default is specified for a parameter, the corresponding argument is
required.
Required
parameters
fun tempToday(day: String, temp: Int) {
println("Today is $day and it's $temp degrees.")
}
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 21
Default versus required
parameters
Functions can have a mix of default and required parameters.
fun reformat(str: String,
divideByCamelHumps: Boolean,
wordSeparator: Char, Has default
value
normalizeCase: Boolean = true){
Pass in required arguments.
reformat("Today is a day like no other day", false, '_')
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 22
Named arguments
To improve readability, use named arguments for required arguments.
reformat(str, divideByCamelHumps = false, wordSeparator =
'_')
It's considered good style to put default arguments after positional
arguments, that way callers only have to specify the required
arguments.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 23
Compact functions
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 24
Single-expression functions
Compact functions, or single-expression functions, make your code
more concise and readable.
fun double(x: Int): Int { Complete
x * 2 version
}
fun double(x: Int):Int = x * 2 Compact
version
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 25
Lambdas and higher-order
functions
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 26
Kotlin functions are first-class
● Kotlin functions can be stored in variables and data
structures
● They can be passed as arguments to, and returned
from, other higher-order functions
● You can use higher-order functions to create new "built-
in" functions
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 27
Lambda functions
A lambda is an expression that makes a function that has no name.
Parameter and
type Function
var dirtLevel = 20
arrow
val waterFilter = {level: Int -> level / 2}
println(waterFilter(dirtLevel))
⇒ 10
Code to
execute
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 28
Syntax for function types
Kotlin's syntax for function types is closely related to its syntax for
lambdas. Declare a variable that holds a function.
val waterFilter: (Int) -> Int = {level -> level / 2}
Variable name Data type of Function
variable
(function type)
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 29
Higher-order functions
Normal function take variables as parameters and return value
Higher-order functions take functions as parameters, or return a
function.
fun encodeMsg(msg: String, encode: (String) -> String):
String {
return encode(msg)
} body of the code calls the function that was passed as the second
The
argument, and passes the first argument along to it.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 30
Higher-order functions
To call this function, pass it a string and a function.
val enc1: (String) -> String = { input ->
input.toUpperCase() }
println(encodeMsg("abc", enc1))
Using a function type separates its implementation from its usage.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 31
Passing a function reference
Use the :: operator to pass a named function as an argument to
another function.
fun enc2(input:String): String = input.reversed()
encodeMessage("abc", ::enc2) Passing a named function,
not a lambda
The :: operator lets Kotlin know that you are passing the function
reference as an argument, and not trying to call the function.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 32
Last parameter call syntax
Kotlin prefers that any parameter that takes a function is the last
parameter.
encodeMessage("acronym", { input -> input.toUpperCase() })
You can pass a lambda as a function parameter without putting it inside
the parentheses.
encodeMsg("acronym") { input -> input.toUpperCase() }
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 33
Using higher-order functions
Many Kotlin built-in functions are defined using last parameter call
syntax.
inline fun repeat(times: Int, action: (Int) -> Unit)
repeat(3) {
println("Hello")
}
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 34
List filters
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 35
List filters
Get part of a list based on some condition
bright
red red-orange dark red orange saffron
orange
Apply filter() on
list
Condition: element contains
“red”
red red-orange dark red
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 36
Iterating through lists
If a function literal has only one parameter, you can omit its
declaration and the "->". The parameter is implicitly declared under
the name it.
val ints = listOf(1, 2, 3)
ints.filter { it > 0 }
Filter iterates through a collection, where it is the value of the element
during the iteration. This is equivalent to:
ints.filter { n: Int -> n > ints.filter { n -> n > 0
0 } OR }
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 37
List filters
The filter condition in curly braces {} tests each item as the filter loops
through. If the expression returns true, the item is included.
val books = listOf("nature", "biology", "birds")
println(books.filter { it[0] == 'b' })
⇒ [biology, birds]
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 38
Eager and lazy filters
Evaluation of expressions in lists:
● Eager: occurs regardless of whether the result is ever
used
● Lazy: occurs only if necessary at runtime
Lazy evaluation of lists is useful if you don't need the entire result, or if
the list is exceptionally large and multiple copies wouldn't wouldn't fit
into RAM.
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 39
Eager filters
Filters are eager by default. A new list is created each time you use a
filter.
val instruments = listOf("viola", "cello", "violin")
val eager = instruments.filter { it [0] == 'v' }
println("eager: " + eager)
⇒ eager: [viola, violin]
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 40
Lazy filters
Sequences are data structures that use lazy evaluation, and can be
used with filters to make them lazy.
val instruments = listOf("viola", "cello", "violin")
val filtered = instruments.asSequence().filter { it[0] ==
'v'}
println("filtered: " + filtered)
⇒ filtered: kotlin.sequences.FilteringSequence@386cc1c4
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 41
Sequences -> lists
Sequences can be turned back into lists using toList().
val filtered = instruments.asSequence().filter { it[0] ==
'v'}
val newList = filtered.toList()
println("new list: " + newList)
⇒ new list: [viola, violin]
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 42
Other list transformations
● map() performs the same transform on every item and returns the
list.
val numbers = setOf(1, 2, 3)
println(numbers.map { it * 3 })
=> [3, 6, 9]
● flatten() returns a single list of all the elements of nested
collections.
val numberSets = listOf(setOf(1, 2, 3), setOf(4, 5),
setOf(1, 2))
println(numberSets.flatten())
=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2]
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 43
Summary
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 44
Summary
In Lesson 2, you learned how
to:
● Create a file and a main()
function in your project, and run a program
● Pass arguments to the main() function
● Use the returned value of an expression
● Use default arguments to replace multiple versions of a functi
on
● Use compact functions, to make code more readable
● Use lambdas and higher-order functions
● Use eager and lazy
Android list filters
Development with Kotlin
This work is licensed under the
Apache 2 license. 45
Pathway
Practice what you’ve learned by
completing the pathway:
Lesson 2: Functions
This work is licensed under the
Android Development with Kotlin Apache 2 license. 46
