Kotlin from Scratch A Project-Based Introduction for the Intrepid Programmer

by Islam, Faisal

• ISBN13: 9781718503526
• ISBN10: 1718503520
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-01-14
• Publisher: No Starch Press

Summary

Learn to code in Kotlin by starting from scratch and gradually building skills to tackle a wide range of fun and challenging problems.

Kotlin isn’t just for building Android apps. As you’ll learn in Kotlin from Scratch, it’s also a general programming language for crafting both elegant and efficient code.

With the aid of 37 hands-on projects, you’ll move quickly through the language basics while building your problem-solving skills, even tackling advanced concepts like fractals, dynamic systems, and nature-inspired algorithms. You’ll explore the way Kotlin handles variables, control structures, functions, classes, and data structures, and you’ll learn to create visualizations using Kotlin and the JavaFX graphics library. Then you’ll build increasingly sophisticated apps to practice what you’ve learned while tackling challenges from math and science to algorithms and optimization.

As you progress through the book, you will:

• Simulate physical systems, like the intricate dance of binary stars
• Implement the classic Hill cipher for encryption and decryption 
• Generate beautiful fractals with recursive algorithms 
• Program classic computer science algorithms for sorting and searching
• Solve the infamous Berlin52 traveling salesman problem 

Expand your language repertoire and improve your computational thinking with Kotlin from Scratch.

Author Biography

Faisal Islam holds an MS in civil engineering and a PhD in resource economics. He has been coding for over two decades in C, Java, Python, and Kotlin. He loves tackling complex real-world problems with his skills in simulation, modeling and optimization. He is also passionate about promoting STEM education through coding, especially for youth. In his spare time, he enjoys photography, reading sci-fi novels, and traveling with his family across the globe.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 
Introduction 
PART I: PROGRAMMING FUNDAMENTALS 
Chapter 1: Kotlin Basics 
Chapter 2: Arrays, Collections, and Classes 
Chapter 3: Visualizing with JavaFX 
PART II: APPLICATIONS IN MATH AND SCIENCE 
Chapter 4: Solving Mathematical Problems with Code 
Chapter 5: Modeling and Simulation 
PART III: RECURSION, SORTING, AND SEARCHING 
Chapter 6: Recursive Functions and Fractals 
Chapter 7: Sorting and Searching 
PART IV: OPTIMIZATION WITH NATURE-INSPIRED ALGORITHMS 
Chapter 8: The Genetic Algorithm 
Chapter 9: Agent-Based Algorithms 
Afterword 
Appendix 
Index