Web Development in Kotlin: From Basics to Deployment

This book is a comprehensive practical guide to web development in the Kotlin language. It will take you from the very basics of the language to creating and deploying a full-fledged web application in the cloud. The author focuses not on dry theory, but on real projects and tasks that every backend developer encounters.

Kotlin has long moved beyond Android development and has become a serious tool for creating server-side applications. Thanks to its concise syntax, full compatibility with Java, and a powerful type system, this language is ideal for modern web projects.

Who this book is for:

• Beginning developers who want to learn Kotlin for backend development
• Java programmers looking to switch to a more modern and expressive language
• Fullstack developers seeking to expand their technology stack
• Students and graduates of IT specialties

What you will learn and be able to do:

• Master Kotlin syntax: null safety, extension functions, coroutines, and sealed classes
• Set up a Gradle project for web development from scratch
• Create a REST API on the Ktor framework with routing and middleware support
• Learn to work with databases via Exposed DSL — a modern ORM for Kotlin
• Implement authentication and authorization (JWT, OAuth2)
• Master HTML DSL and templating for server-side rendering
• Write tests for web applications using JUnit and Ktor Test
• Set up a CI/CD pipeline and perform deployment in a Docker container on a cloud platform
• Get acquainted with microservice architecture and asynchronous request processing

In each chapter, you will find ready-made code examples that can be immediately run and modified. The final project is a fully functional task management web service with a database, API, and web interface.

The book is suitable both for those just starting their journey in web development and for experienced professionals who want to quickly learn Kotlin on the server side. All examples are accompanied by detailed comments and explanations.

After reading, you will be able to confidently develop and deploy web applications in Kotlin, using modern practices and tools of the JVM ecosystem.