Kotlin Community: Conferences, Blogs, Resources — How to Stay on Track in 2024

Why Kotlin is Not Just a Language, But a Whole Ecosystem

Kotlin rapidly burst into the development world and in a few years transformed from "yet another JVM language" into a powerful tool used from backend (Spring Boot) to mobile applications (Android) and even frontend (Kotlin/JS). But behind the success of any language lies a community. Without active developers, conferences, blogs, and open-source projects, even the most beautiful syntax will gather dust on the shelf.

In this article, we'll explore where the Kotlin community lives, which conferences are worth attending (or watching online), which blogs to read to stay on trend, and what resources will help a beginner not drown in a sea of information. And most importantly — I'll show real code examples that you can apply right away.

Major Kotlin Conferences: From KotlinConf to Local Meetups

KotlinConf — The Flagship Conference

KotlinConf is an annual event organized by JetBrains. Here, new language features are announced, real-world cases from large companies (Google, Pinterest, Uber) are showcased, and workshops are held. If you want to know where Kotlin is heading in a year — this is the place.

Example talk: "Kotlin Multiplatform — How to Write One Code for iOS, Android, and Backend". After such a talk, you'll understand how to use expect/actual for platform dependencies:

// Common code (commonMain)expect fun getPlatformName(): String

// Android (androidMain)actual fun getPlatformName(): String = "Android"

// iOS (iosMain)actual fun getPlatformName(): String = "iOS"

At KotlinConf 2023, for example, they showed how using KMP (Kotlin Multiplatform) you can share logic between platforms while keeping 90% of the code common. This really saves hours of development time.

Droidcon — For Android Developers

Although Droidcon is dedicated to Android, Kotlin occupies 70% of the talks. Conferences are held worldwide: London, Berlin, San Francisco, Moscow (until 2022), and online. Here you'll learn about Compose, coroutines, and architecture.

Example from a coroutines talk:

suspend fun fetchUserData(): User {    return withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {        api.getUser() // does not block the main thread    }}

Tip: look for Droidcon recordings on YouTube — the best talks from the last 5 years are freely available there.

Local Meetups and Kotlin User Groups

You don't have to travel far and wide. Almost every major city has a Kotlin User Group (KUG). For example:

• Moscow Kotlin User Group — regular meetings with pizza and talks.
• SPb Kotlin Community — meetups in Saint Petersburg.
• Kotlin Ukraine — online meetings with cool speakers.

At meetups, you can ask questions live and find a mentor. Organizers often publish recordings on YouTube — subscribe!

Blogs and Podcasts: Where to Read and Listen About Kotlin

Official JetBrains Blog

The most reliable source is the Kotlin Blog on the JetBrains website. It features announcements of new versions (1.9, 2.0), detailed articles about the K2 Compiler, and migration tips. Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don't miss anything.

Example of a useful article: "What's New in Kotlin 2.0" — it explains how the new compiler speeds up builds by 2 times.

Kotlin Weekly — A Digest for the Busy

Kotlin Weekly is a weekly newsletter that collects the best articles, libraries, and news. Subscribe at kotlinweekly.net. Each issue contains 5-7 links that are truly worth reading.

For example, one issue featured an article about kotlinx.serialization with an example:

@Serializabledata c