Kotlin roadmap

YouTrack board

Visit the roadmap board in our issue tracker YouTrack

Roadmap details

Completed items

We've completed the following items from the previous roadmap:

• ✅ Language: Support programmatic creation of annotation class instances

• ✅ Language: Stabilize typeOf

• ✅ Language: Allow repeating annotations with runtime retention when compiling under Java 8

• ✅ Language: Support annotations on class type parameters

• ✅ Language: Improve type inference in corner cases for popular Java APIs

• ✅ Language: Support for JVM sealed classes

• ✅ Compiler core: Inferring types based on self upper bounds

• ✅ Compiler core: Work on services for the new compiler to interact with IDE

• ✅ Kotlin/Native: Implement safe initialization for top-level properties

• ✅ Kotlin/Native: Prototype a new garbage collector

• ✅ Multiplatform: Support the Apple silicon target in the Kotlin Multiplatform tooling

• ✅ Multiplatform: Improve dependency management for iOS

• ✅ IDE: Move the Kotlin plugin to the IntelliJ platform development infrastructure

• ✅ Build tools: Decrease time for opening Gradle projects

• ✅ Libraries: Improve kotlinx-serialization (release 1.3.0)

• ✅ Libraries: Improve kotlinx-coroutines (release 1.6.0)

• ✅ Libraries: Stabilize Duration API in the standard library

• ✅ Libraries: Get rid of !! after readLine() in the standard library

• ✅ Libraries: Improve usability of multi-threaded coroutines library for Kotlin/Native

• ✅ Website: Revamp Kotlin documentation

Postponed items

We've decided to postpone the following items from the previous roadmap:

• ⏸ Kotlin/Native: Support building Kotlin/Native for Mac Catalyst (x86-64 and arm64)

• ⏸ Kotlin/Native: Support direct interoperability with Swift

• ⏸ Kotlin/Native: Support running Kotlin/Native-produced binaries on Alpine Linux

• ⏸ Kotlin/JS: Improve Dukat support

• ⏸ Kotlin/JS: JS: support ES6 as compilation target

• ⏸ Multiplatform: Improve Kotlin/Native debugging experience

• ⏸ Multiplatform: Implement code sharing between JVM and Android

• ⏸ IDE: Implement advanced tooling that users have in Java but is missing in Kotlin

• ⏸ IDE: Improve the quality of less frequently used features

• ⏸ Build tools: Improve the quality of Gradle import

Other postponed items remain in this state from earlier roadmap versions.

New items

We've added the following items to the roadmap:

• ???? Language: Research and prototype namespace-based solution for statics and static extensions

• ???? Language: Consider supporting inline sealed classes

• ???? Language: Allow denotable definitely not-null types

• ???? Language: Design and implement solution for toString on objects

• ???? Language: Provide modern and performant replacement for Enum.values()

• ???? Language: Allow implementation by delegation to inlined value of inline class

• ???? Compiler core: Stabilize the K2 Compiler Plugin API

• ???? Compiler core: Investigate JS backend for the K2 compiler

• ???? Kotlin/JVM: Release kotlinx-metadata-jvm as Stable

• ???? Kotlin/JVM: Fix issues related to inline classes on the JVM

• ???? Kotlin/JVM: Allow private top-level classes or type aliases with same name in different files on JVM

• ???? Kotlin/JVM: Provide ability to enumerate all direct subclasses of a sealed class at compile-time without reflection

• ???? Kotlin/JVM: Support method references to functional interface constructors

• ???? Kotlin/JVM: Support Java synthetic property references

• ???? Kotlin/Native: Promote new memory manager to Alpha

• ???? Multiplatform: Improve environment setup experience for KMM projects

• ???? Multiplatform: Improve DSL for managing Kotlin/Native binary output

• ???? Multiplatform: Improve stability and robustness of the multiplatform toolchain

• ???? IDE: Make update of compiler/platform versions faster

• ???? IDE: Improve Multiplatform support

• ???? IDE: Stabilize Eclipse plugin

• ???? Build tools: Provide better experience with Kotlin Daemon

• ???? Build tools: Make kapt work out of the box with latest JDKs

• ???? Libraries: Release Dokka as Stable

• ???? Libraries: Launch kotlinx-kover and productize it further

• ???? Libraries: Release kotlinx-serialization 1.4

• ???? Libraries: Release kotlinx-coroutines 1.7

• ???? Website: Improve Kotlin Playground

• ???? Website: Provide infrastructure for documentation localization by community

Removed items

We've removed the following items from the roadmap:

• ❌ Kotlin/Native: Support interoperability with C++

• ❌ Multiplatform: Improve Gradle and Compiler error messages

• ❌ Build tools: Improve Kotlin Maven support

• ❌ Libraries: Implement any new multiplatform libraries

• ❌ Libraries: kotlinx-cli

• ❌ Libraries: binary-compatibility-validator

• ❌ Libraries: kotlinx-io

Items in progress

All other previously identified roadmap items are in progress. You can check their YouTrack tickets for updates.