Kotlin Development Roadmap for 2025-2026: What JetBrains is Preparing

Kotlin Development Roadmap for 2025-2026: Stability, Performance, and Multiplatform

The JetBrains team has published an updated development plan for the Kotlin language for 2025-2026. The main focuses are bringing the K2 compiler to a stable state, expanding the capabilities of Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP), and introducing new tools for asynchronous programming. Let's break down the key points of the roadmap.

1. K2: Stability and Performance

The K2 compiler, which is currently being actively tested, is expected to become the main compiler in 2025. The main goals are:

• Full support for all language features — eliminating incompatibilities with the current compiler.
• Faster compilation — a speed increase of up to 30-40% is expected for large projects.
• Improved code generation — more efficient bytecode and native binaries.
• Gradle plugin — simplifying project migration to K2.

K2 will become the foundation for all future language optimizations, including support for new platforms.

2. Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) — Going to Production

KMP is exiting the experimental stage. In 2025-2026, the following is planned:

• Stable Kotlin Multiplatform for iOS — full support for Swift/Objective-C interoperability.
• Improved Android integration — integration with the Android SDK and Compose Multiplatform.
• Wasm target — Kotlin will compile to WebAssembly for use in browsers and edge computing.
• Unified build configuration — simplifying the setup of multiplatform projects via Gradle.

3. New Asynchronous Framework

JetBrains has announced Kotlin Async — a lighter alternative to coroutines for high-load systems. Key features:

• Actors — a built-in concurrency model without locks.
• Structured concurrency — automatic management of the task lifecycle.
• Integration with K2 — the compiler will optimize asynchronous code at the bytecode level.

4. Ecosystem Improvements

Language development is impossible without tools. Plans include:

• New plugin for IntelliJ IDEA — improved hints, refactoring, and code analysis based on K2.
• Kotlin Scripting 2.0 — support for REPL and scripts for CI/CD and devops.
• Documentation — a complete overhaul of the official website with interactive examples.

5. Long-term Vision

By 2026, Kotlin should become a general-purpose language for:

• backend development (on par with Java and Go);
• mobile development (Android + iOS via KMP);
• frontend (via Kotlin/JS and Wasm);
• scientific computing (thanks to improved performance