Kotlin from Scratch

Learn Kotlin Through 37 Projects

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.

Review

“Do you want to have fun . . . and learn programming with Kotlin in one book? Faisal Islam wrote that perfect book for you! [F]ocused on a lot of practical examples from the world . . . a good foundation for further advanced topics.”

— Matthias Schenk, Kotlin software engineer & craftsman, @Finanzguru

Table of Contents

Part I Programming Fundamentals

1. Kotlin Basics

2. Arrays, Collections, and Classes

3. Visualizing with JavaFX

Part II Applications in Math and Science

4. Solving Mathematical Problems with Code

5. Modeling and Simulation

Part III Recursion, Sorting, and Searching

6. Recursive Functions and Fractals

7. Sorting and Searchin

Part IV Optimization with Nature-Inspired Algorithms

8. The Genetic Algorithm

9. Agent-Based Algorithms

About the Author

Dr. Faisal Islam brings a wealth of interdisciplinary expertise to Kotlin from Scratch. With an MS in civil engineering and a PhD in resource economics, he offers a unique perspective on applying computational thinking to real-world challenges. Dr. Islam has over 20 years of experience in coding across multiple languages (C, Java, Python, and Kotlin) to solve complex problems and an extensive background in simulation, modeling, and optimization.