Top 4 Kotlin Books for Beginners in 2023
Kotlin is a language for Android phones.
Kotlin is a modern, cross-platform, open-source, statically typed programming language. This versatile language was developed by JetBrains for modern multi-platform applications.
Nowadays, Kotlin is widely used for Android development because it is safe, concise, and fun to read and write. This blog will guide beginners to get started with Kotlin.
In this article, we’re talking about the books that give the most valuable to people learning their first programming language.
Why Learn Kotlin
Here are a few reasons why programmers and developers should learn Kotlin:
Easy to learn: Kotlin is very easy to learn and its syntax is very much similar to Java so you can remember it very easily.
Performance: Kotlin gives better performance and has a small runtime.
Popular: Kotlin has become very popular due to Google’s influence.
Concise: Kotlin keeps things brief and concise. It is more concise than Java and reduces codebase significantly when compared to the same code written in Java
Interoperable: Kaitlin is interoperable and we can use existing JVM libs and frameworks.
Safe: Kaitlin is safe and is impossible to get a NullPointerException
What Makes Best Kotlin Books?
When looking for the best books to learn Kotlin programming, one question to ask is this: what makes the best Kotlin books?
Here are our criteria to select Kotlin books for beginners:
It must have a structured, clear, and logical progression of topics.
The book is concise and easy to understand.
Contain exercises, examples, and practice problems for hands-on experience.
Engaging and able to hold the attention of readers.
The book should have a clear layout and must be friendly toward self-taught programmers.
Best Kotlin Books for Beginners
When it comes to learning Kotlin language, books have become the best source for learning this language. Enjoy our list of five best Kotlin programming books for beginners.
1. Best Book for Visual Learners: Head First Kotlin: A Brain-Friendly Guide
Head First Kotlin by David Griffiths is a complete introduction to coding in Kotlin. It’s no secret that I love Head First books, This hands-on book helps you learn the Kotlin language with a unique method that goes beyond syntax and how-to manuals and teaches you how to think like a great Kotlin developer. Everything has been explained very clearly and in detail using clear diagrams and pictures.
In this book, you will learn about language fundamentals to collections, generics, lambdas, and even higher-order functions. The book is divided into twelve chapters:
Chapter 1 gives a Quick Dip and guides you on getting started
Chapter 2 covers basic types and variables
Chapter 3 covers functions
Chapter 4 covers classes and objects
Chapter 5 covers subclasses and superclasses and Inheritance
Chapter 6 covers Serious Polymorphism, abstract classes, and interfaces
Chapter 7 talks about data classes
Chapter 8 talks about nulls and exceptions
Chapter 9 covers collections
Chapter 10 covers generics
Chapter 11 covers lambdas and higher-order functions
Chapter 12 covers built-in higher-order functions
If you want to really understand Kotlin the easy way, this is the book for you.
2. Best Book for Serious Learners: Kotlin in Action
The book, Kotlin in Action is written by Dmitry Jemerov and Svetlana Isakova. It guides you from the language basics of Kotlin through developing apps to run on the JVM and Android devices. This book also dives deep into interesting topics like building DSLs with natural language syntax.
This book is divided into two different parts. Part 1 teaches how to get started using Kotlin together with existing libraries and APIs. Part 2 explains how to create your APIs and abstractions in Kotlin. It also covers some of the language’s most essential features. The book includes eleven chapters.
Chapter 1 introduced Kotlin
Chapter 2 covers Kotlin basics
Chapter 3 talks about Defining and calling functions
Chapter 4 covers Classes, objects, and interfaces
Chapter 5 talks about Programming with lambdas
Chapter 6 covers the Kotlin type system
Chapter 7 covers the Operator overloading and other conventions
Chapter 8 covers the Higher-order functions: lambdas as parameters and return values
Chapter 9 covers the Generics
Chapter 10 talks about Annotations and reflection
Chapter 11 covers DSL construction
This book is for someone who is new to Kotlin but is experienced in Java.
3. Best Book for Total Beginners: Learn Kotlin Quickly: coding for beginners - Kotlin Programming Language, A Quick Start
Learn Kotlin Quickly by JJ Tam is specifically written for beginners. The book takes you step-by-step through writing your very first program while explaining each portion of code as you go along.
The book includes practical examples and hands-on projects for beginners in easy steps. The contents covered in the book are:
Introduction to Kotlin
Install Kotlin
Installing Kotlin in command-line mode
Kotlin: Hello World program
Define variables in Kotlin
Data types in Kotlin
Kotlin: nullable types
Kotlin: Numbers
Kotlin: Characters
Kotlin: Convert character to Int
Kotlin: Booleans
Kotlin: Strings
Kotlin: String template expressions
Kotlin: Arrays
Kotlin: Define an array of nulls
Kotlin: Define array using a factory function
Kotlin: Print array elements
Kotlin: Bitwise operators
Kotlin: Logical Operators
Kotlin: Control flow statements
Kotlin: if statement
Kotlin: if-else statement
Kotlin: if-else if-else
Kotlin: when expression
Kotlin: Using when as if-else if ladder
Kotlin: Use When as expression
Kotlin: for loop
Kotlin: while, do-while loops
Kotlin: break statement
Kotlin: continue statement
Kotlin: classes and objects
Kotlin: Declaring properties
Kotlin: getters & setters to properties
Kotlin: Define member functions of class
Kotlin: const: Compile time constants
Kotlin: const vs val
Kotlin: lateinit: Late initialized properties
Kotlin: Constructors
Kotlin: Secondary Constructors
Kotlin: Passing default values to the primary constructor
Kotlin: Define a private primary constructor
Kotlin: How to create Object
Kotlin: Inheritance
Kotlin: Overriding methods
Kotlin: Overriding properties
Kotlin: Calling superclass methods
Kotlin: Nested classes
Kotlin: Inner classes
Kotlin: Interfaces
Kotlin: Overriding conflict while implementing interfaces
Kotlin: Object Expressions
Kotlin: Define singleton objects
Kotlin: Companion Objects
Kotlin: Anonymous Inner class
Kotlin: Abstract classes
Kotlin: functions
Kotlin: Call functions using parameter names
Kotlin: Function default arguments
Kotlin: unit (or) void functions
You can learn complete primary skills of Kotlin programming fast and easily. This brief book is a perfect guide for beginners!
More books you may like:
4. Best Book for Completionists: Learn Kotlin Programming: A comprehensive guide to OOP, functions, concurrency, and coroutines in Kotlin 1.3
Learn Kotlin Programming by Stephen Samuel and Stefan Bocutiu will take you through the fundamentals of Kotlin and get you up to speed in no time. You will learn to build powerful Android and web applications.
The book covers the installation, tools, and how to write basic programs in Kotlin. Learn Kotlin Programming covers the installation, tools, and how to write basic programs in Kotlin. You'll learn:
Explore the latest Kotlin features in order to write structured and readable object-oriented code
Get to grips with using lambdas and higher-order functions
Write unit tests and integrate Kotlin with Java code
Create real-world apps in Kotlin in the microservices style
Use Kotlin extensions with the Java collections library
Uncover destructuring expressions and find out how to write your own
Understand how Java-nullable code can be integrated with Kotlin features
This book is divided into sixteen chapters and the contents include
Getting Started with Kotlin
Kotlin Basics
Object-Oriented Programming in Kotlin
Functions in Kotlin
Higher-Order Functions and Functional Programming
Properties
Null safety, Reflection, and Annotations
Generics
Data Classes
Collections
Testing in Kotlin
Microservices with Kotlin
Concurrency
Coroutines
Application of Coroutines
Kotlin Serialization
This book is a gem for a beginner or intermediate programmer who wants to learn Kotlin to build applications.
More Ways to Learn Kotlin
The best way to learn to code goes like this:
Commit to coding and coding education consistently — at least three days a week.
Learn through multiple forms of input. In addition to studying books, take interactive or online courses.
Here are a few more ways to learn Kotlin besides books:
Udemy: The Complete Android Kotlin Developer Course is a highly-rated, packed course with 33 hours of on-demand video content.
Coursera: Kotlin for Java Developers is an extremely highly-rated course offered by Jetbrains, which offers clear modules to learn from top people in the field.
Codecademy: Codecademy’s free beginner Kotlin course is an interactive way to help solidify Kotlin concepts. With Pro, you get a certificate. For more on Codecademy Pro, see my Codecademy Pro review.
If you want more free beginner resources to learn programming skills, I’ve compiled over 70 free resources that you can access immediately. I hope to see you over there in that article.
I hope you have a wonderful day. 👋 😁