Using Android Studio for experimenting with Kotlin features

Android
1

I’m using Android Studio for developing Android apps using Kotlin. (At this point I’m still learning.)

Is there a simple way to try out Kotlin features in Android Studio? For example, I’d like to type a few lines of Kotlin, and use println() or printf() to display output. Adding code to a fragment class init-block and using Log() to display output in the Logcat pane works, but is awkward.

Would it be better to use a more generic IDE such as Eclipse for this purpose?

2

You can try Kotlin Koans.

Kotlin Koans are a series of exercises to get you familiar with the Kotlin Syntax.

3

I’m using Kotlin Koans via the EduTools plugin in Android Studio.

But as far as I can tell, Kotlin Koans doesn’t provide any way to run code. It only compares your source code with its solution, and tells you whether they match.

4

If what you want is to run some code then you could use Scratch files, which in functionality are very similar to the Kotlin Playground

5

Thanks :slightly_smiling_face:

I had seen Kotlin Playground. But I didn’t know about Android Studio’s Scratch File feature; it’s perfect for this purpose.

6

I found that IntelliJ IDEA (Community edition) works better for this purpose.