Lesson 2:

Functions

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin v1.0 1

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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 2

Programs in Kotlin

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 5

Create a Kotlin file
You should now see a file in the src folder called Hello.kt.

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 8

Pass arguments to main()

Select Run > Edit Configurations to open the Run/Debug Configurations window.

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 10

(Almost) Everything has a value

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 13

Functions in Kotlin

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.
Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin

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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 16

Unit returning functions

If a function does not return any useful value, its return type is Unit.

fun printHello(name: String?){

println("Hi there!")
}

Unit is a type with only one value: Unit.

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 18

Function arguments

Functions may have:

● Default parameters
● Required parameters
● Named arguments

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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
to define default values
drive() ⇒ driving fast
drive("slow") ⇒ driving slowly
drive(speed = "turtle-like") ⇒ driving turtle-like

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 23

Compact functions

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 24

Single-expression functions

Compact functions, or single-expression functions, make your code more concise

and readable.

fun double(x: Int): Int { Complete version

x * 2
}

fun double(x: Int):Int = x * 2 Compact version

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 25

Lambdas and higher-order
functions

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 27

Lambda functions
A lambda is an expression that makes a function that has no name.

Parameter and type

Function arrow
var dirtLevel = 20
val waterFilter = {level: Int -> level / 2}
println(waterFilter(dirtLevel))
⇒ 10 Code to execute

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 variable Function

(function type)

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 29

Higher-order functions
Higher-order functions take functions as parameters, or return a function.

fun encodeMsg(msg: String, encode: (String) -> String): String {​

return encode(msg)
}

The body of the code calls the function that was passed as the second argument,
and passes the first argument along to it.

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 34

 List filters

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 > 0 } OR ints.filter { n -> n > 0 }

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 43

 Summary

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 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 function
● Use compact functions, to make code more readable
● Use lambdas and higher-order functions
● Use eager and lazy list filters

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 45

Pathway

Practice what you’ve learned by

completing the pathway:
Lesson 2: Functions

This work is licensed under the Apache 2 license.

Apache 2 license

Android Development with Kotlin 46