commonMain.dev (Articles)

The History of Kodee, Kotlin's Mascot

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Bringing Kodee to life wasn’t just a design challenge; it was a deeply collaborative effort by the Kotlin Marketing team, together with the Design and Strategic Research teams at JetBrains. The project’s goal was to create a mascot that truly resonated with the developer community.

Is Kotlin becoming too bloated? Why I am sticking to a "Minimalist" subset of the language

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I really think a language should be simple and powerful, not bloated with endless concepts. Anyone else intentionally keep their Kotlin simple just to stay sane? Or am I missing something?

The Same System: Advanced expect/actual in KMP

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

That is expect/actual, and it is the closest thing KMP has to a signature move. You declare the position once in commonMain. Each platform fields its own player. The trivial version, an expect fun with a one-line actual on each side, gets shown in every intro tutorial and it is genuinely easy. This article is about what happens after that, when you start declaring classes, constructors, and typealiases, and the compiler starts enforcing rules that the tutorials never mention.

Kotlin DSL Deep Dive: From Gradle Scripts to Building Your Own

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

What .kts files actually are, why Gradle’s dependencies { } is just a function call, and how to build a working HTML DSL from scratch

How to use Koin Compiler in a Multimodule Project?

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Today we’re diving into how to use the Koin Compiler in a Compose Multiplatform multi-module project. In the previous article, we explored how to migrate a multimodule setup to Koin Annotations, using a convention Gradle plugin to move forward in small, safe steps. We’ll follow that same approach diving deep into a project called MovieDB-App.

Cut build time by 70% in your KMP projects with the Dependency Analysis Gradle Plugin

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Kraken Technologies, which maintains a Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) project of roughly 600 modules, was recently able to cut its average build time from about 6 minutes to about 1 minute and 50 seconds, or ~70%. They also report that sync times improved from roughly 5 minutes to roughly 45 seconds, or ~85%.

Another Way to KMP: Shared Renderers

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the first two articles I built 3D chess twice — once with a Compose Multiplatform shell, once with React Native. In both cases, the game logic was in shared Kotlin, and platform-specific 3D renderers displayed the state. This article is about a project that inverts that architecture — and about why the inversion is correct.

Mirage: Cloudy Grows from a Blur Library into a Graphics Effect Library

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Blur is a single effect with a single knob, a radius, and for a long time that was the whole library. Mirage is where that changes. It is the first step in Cloudy growing past “the blur library” into a general graphics effect toolkit — a way to run authored GPU shader effects, not just a fixed blur, over the content and backdrops in your Compose UI.

Inside SubcomposeLayout: Jetpack Compose’s Most Misunderstood API

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Composers 👋, if you’ve built a complex UI in Jetpack Compose, you’ve probably reached for BoxWithConstraints. And by doing so, you’ve probably paid a performance tax you didn’t fully understand.

Unbeatable Football | Historic Football Draft Game

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Draft players across 11 rounds, build a balanced lineup, clear daily challenges, and protect your streak.…

GitHub - wingedsheep/argentum-engine: Magic: The Gathering rules engine + online play platform, in Kotlin

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Magic: The Gathering rules engine + online play platform, in Kotlin - wingedsheep/argentum-engine…

Senior Mobile Software Engineer with Kotlin

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

at Accesa We are looking for a Senior Kotlin Developer who is experienced in Kotlin Multiplatform delivery, comfortable owning complex shared modules in a layered architecture, and motivated by the challenge of building the reliable, platform-agnostic foundation that modern retail operations depend on.

Kotlin Toolchain 0.11: The Next Step for Amper

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Amper 0.11.0 is out, and you will notice a shift in the product branding immediately. If you missed the KotlinConf keynote, here’s the headline: Amper has evolved into the Kotlin Toolchain and is now Alpha!

Are you waiting for a Kotlin feature that hasn't been implemented yet?

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Is there a Kotlin language feature that you really want but that hasn't been implemented yet, or has even been rejected? Maybe it has a KEEP, or even not.

Current state of design systems and UI libraries

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Now, what’s the current landscape of “middle-ground” UIs in KMP world? Is using compose/material as a foundation for your own design system the best way to do it?

Safety Car: Coroutine Exception Handling in KMP

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

One launch block throws, and if nothing contains it, the failure climbs the job hierarchy, cancels every sibling, and on a bad day takes the whole app down with it. The question isn’t whether a coroutine will throw. It’s what happens to everything around it when it does.

How We Made Ktor JSON Parsing 66% Faster with 50% Less Memory on KMP

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

If you are building Kotlin Multiplatform applications, you know that JSON serialization is often one of the main bottlenecks in high-throughput backends and mobile apps—especially regarding CPU cycles and Garbage Collector (GC) pressure.

Kotlin tricks: Non-exhaustive enums

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Enums are an exhaustive set of values. But what if you suspect you may want to add new entries in the future?

DrawBox Goes Multiplatform

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Why I rewrote my Android-only drawing library for Kotlin Multiplatform, and the part of the rewrite that actually hurt.

Setting up Compose Multiplatform previews

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Earlier this year, the new Kotlin Multiplatform IDE plugin was released, with one of the highlighted features being Compose previews for common code, powered by the Android preview tooling. In this blog post, we’ll look at how to set this up in your projects.

ClashAlly - Apps on Google Play

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Your Ultimate Clash Companion — track clans, players, and wars like a pro
Web version available here.

SoccerRPG

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

This is a tactical 5v5 football game inspired by the feeling of Blitzball: positioning, decision-making, team strategy, and creating plays that feel satisfying to execute. Built with Compose Multiplatform

Software Engineer

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

(with KMP) at Zwift In this role, you will work on Zwift’s mobile app, Zwift Companion (ZC), delivering high-quality features and ensuring a seamless user experience. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver product features on iOS and Android apps that help Zwifters plan, track, and achieve their fitness goals. Additionally, you will contribute to defining and executing the technical strategy to achieve our team objectives - make it easy for Zwifters to plan and start their experiences in Zwift.

commonMain.dev (Articles)

The History of Kodee, Kotlin's Mascot

Is Kotlin becoming too bloated? Why I am sticking to a "Minimalist" subset of the language

SPONSORED - Practical Kotlin Deep Dive

The Same System: Advanced expect/actual in KMP

Kotlin DSL Deep Dive: From Gradle Scripts to Building Your Own

How to use Koin Compiler in a Multimodule Project?

Cut build time by 70% in your KMP projects with the Dependency Analysis Gradle Plugin

Another Way to KMP: Shared Renderers

Mirage: Cloudy Grows from a Blur Library into a Graphics Effect Library

Inside SubcomposeLayout: Jetpack Compose’s Most Misunderstood API

SPONSORED - Carrd

Unbeatable Football | Historic Football Draft Game

GitHub - wingedsheep/argentum-engine: Magic: The Gathering rules engine + online play platform, in Kotlin

SPONSORED - hackajob

Senior Mobile Software Engineer with Kotlin

Kotlin Toolchain 0.11: The Next Step for Amper

Are you waiting for a Kotlin feature that hasn't been implemented yet?

Current state of design systems and UI libraries

SPONSORED - Practical Kotlin Deep Dive

Safety Car: Coroutine Exception Handling in KMP

How We Made Ktor JSON Parsing 66% Faster with 50% Less Memory on KMP

Kotlin tricks: Non-exhaustive enums

DrawBox Goes Multiplatform

Setting up Compose Multiplatform previews

SPONSORED - Carrd

ClashAlly - Apps on Google Play

SoccerRPG

SPONSORED - hackajob

Software Engineer