Kotlin again tops the list of favorite programming languages according to StackOverflow

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Kotlin again at the top: why do developers choose it according to StackOverflow?

The annual developer survey from StackOverflow is one of the most authoritative sources of data on sentiments in the IT community. In 2024, the results once again confirmed a steady trend: the Kotlin programming language firmly holds its position in the top ten favorite languages, occupying a place of honor alongside Rust, Python, and TypeScript.

What did the research show?

The 2024 survey covered over 65,000 developers worldwide. The "Most Loved" category is formed based on the ratio of developers who actively use a technology and want to continue using it to those who are abandoning it.

High retention rate: Kotlin is consistently in the top 5 languages that developers do not want to change. This indicates a high level of satisfaction with the syntax, tooling, and ecosystem.
Displacing Java in Android: After Google declared Kotlin a first-class language for Android, its popularity skyrocketed. It is now the primary choice for new mobile projects.
Cross-platform capability: The development of Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) allows writing shared code for Android, iOS, the web, and the backend, which attracts developers looking for universal solutions.

Why is Kotlin so loved?

Experts and survey participants highlight several key reasons for the language's popularity:

Conciseness and safety: Code in Kotlin is on average 40% shorter than equivalent code in Java. Additionally, the type system with null-safety prevents a whole class of errors at the compilation stage.
Compatibility with Java: Kotlin is fully compatible with Java. Developers can use all existing Java libraries and frameworks, gradually migrating a project without "rewriting from scratch."
Modern features: Support for coroutines makes asynchronous programming simple and understandable, while extension functions and delegated properties simplify everyday tasks.

Position in the ranking and context

Although Rust has been the absolute leader in "love" for several years, Kotlin confidently holds its place in the top ten, outpacing languages such as Go, Swift, and C#. Notably, Kotlin practically does not appear in the "Most Dreaded" category, unlike good old COBOL or Visual Basic.

For comparison, Python, being the most used language, often occupies middle positions in the "favorite" ranking, as many use it, but not everyone is ready to call it a favorite. Kotlin, on the contrary, has a narrower but very devoted audience.

What does this mean for a developer?

If you are learning a new language or looking for a technology for a long-term project, the StackOverflow survey results are an excellent marker. Kotlin's inclusion in the top "favorite" languages means that: