Why doesn't 'is' type check work on Java classes

Hi, could someone explain me why does “is” typecheck fail in such a simple scenario when checking Java class from Kotlin code:

//JavaClass.java
public class JavaClass {}

//Kotlin.kt
open class Base
class Derived : Base()
class SomeOtherKotlinClass

fun test1(base : Base) = base is Derived //compiles, as expected
fun test2(base : Base) = base is SomeOtherKotlinClass //fails, as expected
fun test3(base : Base) = base is JavaClass //compiles, but should also fail as JavaClass does not derive from Base

I don’t know how you test code written.
My test code:

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    println(test3(Base())) // false
    // println(test2(Base())) Can't compile test2 func
    println(test1(Base())) // false
}

Maybe I misunderstood your “fail”.
If you meant test2 couldn’t be compiled while test3 could, it’s may because Kotlin can’t apply type checking stricty to Java types.

yeah, runtime check works, I’m talking about compile time check. I wonder why does it not work and are there any plans to implement it?

is operator in Kotlin will be simply compiled to the same bytecode as instanceof operator in Java.
For example, the function below

fun testIs(any: Any?) = any is String

will be compiled to

aload 0
instanceof java/lang/String
ireturn

Both Kotlin’s is and Java’s instanceof operator will give your a compile error when you are trying to apply an instance to a incompatible type.

//Java Test 
System.out.println(new StringBuilder() instanceof String); // compile error
//Kotlin Test
println(StringBuilder() is String) // compile error

Compile errors only disappear when you are applying an instance to a Java type which hasn’t mapped to a Kotlin type.
The Kotlin test code above works because kotlin.String is a Kotlin type. You could find all the mapped types here: Mapped Types
Also something about Platform Types