Kotlin Foundation

Scope

The main functions of the Kotlin Foundation are:

• Holding the trademarks associated with the project

• Appointing the Lead Language Designer

• Controlling incompatible changes to the language

Development. The code for the project is developed openly on GitHub primarily by the team employed at JetBrains, with contributions from Google and others. The Foundation has no developers on its payroll. The respective contributors hold the copyright for the code they author. The code is distributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Trademarks. The Kotlin trademark and associated marks, logos and domain names belong to the Kotlin Foundation. The Foundation permits the usage of the trademarks according to the Kotlin Brand Usage Guidelines. All usages not permitted automatically, require explicit written permission from the Foundation.

Lead Language Designer is in charge of all decisions regarding the development of the project and evolution of the language. The Foundation appoints the Lead Language Designer, but does not directly make decisions about the course of the project.

Incompatible changes. A special Language Committee appointed by the Foundation reviews the changes proposed by the Lead Language Designer and has the power to reject incompatible changes or require certain deprecation procedures to be carried out. The Language Committee has no power over compatible changes such as adding new features to the language. Compatible changes are made at the sole discretion of the Lead Language Designer. The Committee maintains a set of guidelines that are being consulted when making decisions. Meeting minutes of the Language Committee are available online.

Structure

The Kotlin Foundation is a nonprofit nonstock corporation registered in the state of Delaware, USA. The Foundation is governed by the Board of Directors that makes all decisions by voting. The Board appoints the Lead Language Designer and the members of the Language Committee.

The President and the Secretary are elected by the Board of Directors as well. The President acts as the chief officer of the Foundation and supervises its affairs and operations. The Secretary keeps record of all meetings of the Board and its committees, and keeps track of membership and notices to the members, directors and third parties.

Current personnel

President: Maxim Shafirov (JetBrains)

Secretary: David Winer (Google)

Board of Directors:

• Maxim Shafirov (JetBrains)

• Roman Elizarov (JetBrains)

• William R. Cook (University of Texas at Austin)

• Grace Kloba (Google)

• Anwar Ghuloum (Google)

Lead Language Designer: Roman Elizarov (JetBrains)

Language Committee:

• Roman Elizarov (JetBrains)

• William R. Cook (University of Texas at Austin)

• Jeffrey van Gogh (Google)