Kotlin and Android Masterclass

Topics Covered

• What is Kotlin? History, features, and JetBrains creation
• Why Kotlin? Advantages over Java and other languages
• Kotlin ecosystem: Android, Backend, Multiplatform, Native
• Kotlin/JVM, Kotlin/JS, Kotlin/Native explained
• Interoperability with Java
• Installing JDK (Java 17 LTS or latest)
• Setting up development environment: IntelliJ IDEA, Android Studio
• Understanding IDE features and Kotlin-specific shortcuts
• Kotlin REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) for quick testing
• Your first Kotlin program: Hello World

• Kotlin program structure: main function, packages
• Compiling and running Kotlin programs
• Understanding bytecode and JVM execution
• Comments: single-line (//), multi-line (/* */), KDoc (/** */)
• Kotlin coding conventions and naming standards
• Type inference and concise syntax

Topics Covered

• Variables: val (immutable) vs var (mutable)
• Type inference: let the compiler infer types
• Explicit type declarations
• Basic types: Int, Long, Short, Byte, Double, Float, Char, Boolean
• String type and string templates
• String interpolation with $ and ${}
• Multi-line strings with triple quotes
• Type checking with is operator
• Smart casts after type checking
• Type casting: as and as? (safe cast)

• Nullable types: Type? notation
• Null safety: ?., ?:, !!, let
• Operators: arithmetic (+, -, *, /, %, ++, --)
• Relational operators: ==, !=, >, <, >=, <=
• Logical operators: &&, ||, !
• Assignment operators: =, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=
• Bitwise operators: and, or, xor, inv, shl, shr, ushr
• Range operator: ..
• in operator for range checking
• Elvis operator: ?:
• Safe call operator: ?.
• Not-null assertion: !!

Topics Covered

• If as an expression (returns value)
• If-else expression
• If-else-if ladder
• When expression: Kotlin's switch replacement
• When with values, ranges, types
• When without argument
• When as expression vs statement
• While loop
• Do-while loop
• For loop with ranges

• For loop with collections
• Iterating with indices: forEachIndexed
• Until vs downTo in ranges
• Step in ranges
• Break and continue
• Labeled break and continue
• Nested loops and loop patterns
• repeat function for simple loops

Topics Covered

• Functions: fun keyword
• Function parameters and return types
• Unit return type (like void)
• Single-expression functions
• Default parameter values
• Named arguments
• Variable number of arguments: vararg
• Extension functions concept
• Infix functions
• Local functions (nested functions)

• Higher-order functions introduction
• Lambda expressions basics
• Arrays: arrayOf, intArrayOf, etc.
• Array access and modification
• Lists: listOf (immutable), mutableListOf
• Sets: setOf, mutableSetOf
• Maps: mapOf, mutableMapOf
• Collection operations: size, isEmpty, contains

Topics Covered

• Classes: class keyword
• Primary constructor in class header
• Secondary constructors
• init blocks for initialization
• Properties: val and var in classes
• Getters and setters (automatic and custom)
• Backing fields: field keyword
• Late initialization: lateinit var
• Lazy initialization: lazy delegation
• Creating objects (no 'new' keyword)

• Visibility modifiers: public, private, protected, internal
• Data classes for data holding
• Copy function in data classes
• Destructuring declarations
• Object declarations (singleton)
• Companion objects (like static in Java)
• Object expressions (anonymous objects)

Topics Covered

• Inheritance with open keyword
• Classes are final by default
• Open functions for overriding
• Override keyword (mandatory)
• Calling superclass: super keyword
• Abstract classes and members
• Interfaces in Kotlin
• Multiple interface implementation
• Interface properties
• Default implementations in interfaces

• Resolving conflicts in multiple inheritance
• Sealed classes for restricted hierarchies
• Sealed class subtypes
• Enum classes
• Enum with properties and methods
• Polymorphism and type checking
• Smart casts in polymorphism

Topics Covered

• First-class functions
• Lambda expressions syntax
• Lambda with receivers
• Anonymous functions
• Higher-order functions
• Function types: (Int) -> String
• Returning functions from functions
• Closures and capturing variables
• Inline functions for performance
• noinline and crossinline

• Standard library functions: let, run, with, apply, also
• Collection operations: map, filter, reduce
• flatMap and flatten
• fold and reduce operations
• Sequences for lazy evaluation
• Function composition
• Currying and partial application

Topics Covered

• Generic types in Kotlin
• Generic functions
• Generic constraints: where clause
• Variance: in, out, invariance
• Covariance with out
• Contravariance with in
• Star projection: *
• Reified type parameters
• Type erasure and reified
• Generic class inheritance

• Type aliases for complex types
• Inline classes (value classes)
• Phantom types pattern
• Generic builders
• Type-safe builders with generics

Topics Covered

• Class delegation with by keyword
• Delegation pattern in Kotlin
• Property delegation
• Lazy delegate for late initialization
• Observable delegate for property observation
• Vetoable delegate
• Storing properties in a map
• Custom delegates creation
• ReadOnlyProperty and ReadWriteProperty
• provideDelegate for dynamic delegation
• Delegated properties in interfaces
• Multiple delegation
• Delegation vs inheritance trade-offs

Topics Covered

• List operations: filter, map, flatMap, fold
• Set operations: union, intersect, subtract
• Map operations: mapKeys, mapValues, filterKeys
• Grouping: groupBy, groupingBy
• Partitioning: partition
• Zipping and unzipping
• Windowed and chunked
• Aggregate operations: sumOf, maxOf, minOf
• Sorting: sortedBy, sortedWith
• Distinct and distinctBy

• Take, drop, slice operations
• Associate operations
• Sequences vs Collections performance
• asSequence for lazy operations
• generateSequence for infinite sequences

Topics Covered

• Asynchronous programming need
• Coroutines vs threads
• Suspend functions
• launch coroutine builder
• async and await
• runBlocking for blocking code
• Coroutine context and dispatchers
• Dispatchers.Main, IO, Default, Unconfined
• withContext for switching context
• Coroutine scope

• GlobalScope vs structured concurrency
• Job and Deferred
• Cancellation and timeouts
• Exception handling in coroutines
• supervisorScope for independent children

Topics Covered

• Channels for communication
• Channel types: rendezvous, buffered, unlimited
• produce and consumeEach
• Flow for async streams
• Flow builders: flow, flowOf, asFlow
• Flow operators: map, filter, transform
• Terminal flow operators: collect, toList
• Flow context and dispatchers
• Flow cancellation
• Flow exceptions

• StateFlow and SharedFlow
• Cold vs hot flows
• Flow combinations: combine, zip, merge
• flatMapConcat, flatMapMerge, flatMapLatest
• Flow buffering and conflation

Topics Covered

• What are DSLs?
• Type-safe builders
• Lambda with receiver
• Extension functions in DSLs
• Infix notation for DSLs
• Operator overloading
• invoke operator
• Creating HTML DSL
• Creating SQL-like DSL
• Creating test DSL

• DslMarker annotation
• Context receivers (Kotlin 1.6+)
• Building fluent APIs
• DSL scope control
• Real-world DSL examples

Topics Covered

• Kotlin reflection API
• Class references: ::class
• KClass, KFunction, KProperty
• Callable references
• Function references: ::functionName
• Property references
• Bound and unbound references
• Reflection for generics
• Annotations in Kotlin
• Creating custom annotations

• Annotation targets
• Annotation retention
• Annotation parameters
• Reading annotations at runtime
• Annotation processing
• Meta-annotations

Topics Covered

• Singleton with object declaration
• Factory pattern with companion object
• Builder pattern with DSL
• Observer pattern with delegation
• Strategy pattern with lambdas
• Decorator pattern with delegation
• Adapter pattern
• Proxy pattern with lazy
• Command pattern
• State pattern with sealed classes

• Chain of responsibility
• Template method
• Visitor pattern
• Repository pattern
• Dependency injection patterns

Topics Covered

• Unit testing with JUnit 5
• Kotlin-specific test features
• Assertions with Kotlin
• Kotest framework
• Property-based testing
• Mocking with MockK
• Coroutine testing
• Testing suspending functions
• TestCoroutineDispatcher
• Testing flows

• Turbine for Flow testing
• Test-driven development in Kotlin
• Behavior-driven development
• Integration testing
• Test coverage with JaCoCo

Topics Covered

• Introduction to Ktor
• Ktor vs Spring Boot
• Setting up Ktor project
• Routing in Ktor
• HTTP methods handling
• Request and response
• Content negotiation
• JSON serialization with kotlinx.serialization
• Status pages and error handling
• Authentication and authorization
• JWT authentication in Ktor
• Sessions in Ktor
• Static content serving

Topics Covered

• Database integration with Exposed
• Exposed DSL and DAO
• Database transactions
• Connection pooling
• WebSockets in Ktor
• Real-time communication
• Testing Ktor applications
• Client-side Ktor HTTP client
• Dependency injection in Ktor (Koin)
• Monitoring and metrics
• Ktor deployment
• Docker containerization

Topics Covered

• JDBC with Kotlin
• Exposed framework deep dive
• Exposed DSL queries
• Exposed DAO pattern
• Relationships in Exposed
• Transactions in Exposed
• jOOQ with Kotlin
• SQLDelight for type-safe SQL
• MongoDB with Kotlin
• Redis with Kotlin
• Database migrations
• Connection pool configuration

Topics Covered

• Gradle with Kotlin DSL
• Gradle Kotlin DSL syntax
• Build script configuration
• Dependencies management
• Multi-module projects
• Publishing libraries
• Kotlin scripting (.kts files)
• Custom Gradle tasks
• Maven with Kotlin
• Continuous integration setup
• Git best practices for Kotlin

Topics Covered

• Android platform overview
• Android architecture
• Android SDK and tools
• Android Studio setup and features
• Project structure in Android
• Gradle build system for Android
• AndroidManifest.xml
• Activities and lifecycle
• Intents: explicit and implicit
• Activity navigation

• Passing data between activities
• Fragment basics
• Fragment lifecycle
• Fragment transactions
• UI with XML layouts
• View and ViewGroup
• Common layouts: LinearLayout, RelativeLayout, ConstraintLayout

Topics Covered

• Introduction to Jetpack Compose
• Declarative UI paradigm
• Composable functions
• @Composable annotation
• Compose preview
• State in Compose: remember, mutableStateOf
• Recomposition concept
• State hoisting
• Modifiers in Compose
• Layout composables: Column, Row, Box

• LazyColumn and LazyRow
• Text, Image, Button composables
• TextField and user input
• Spacer and Divider
• Card and Surface
• Material Design 3 components
• Theming in Compose

Topics Covered

• Compose Navigation library
• NavHost and NavController
• Route-based navigation
• Passing arguments in navigation
• Bottom navigation with Compose
• Navigation drawer in Compose
• Nested navigation graphs
• Side effects in Compose: LaunchedEffect, DisposableEffect
• SideEffect, derivedStateOf
• remember vs rememberSaveable

• ViewModel integration with Compose
• Lifecycle-aware composables
• Animation in Compose
• AnimatedVisibility, animateContentSize
• Custom animations

Topics Covered

• MVVM architecture pattern
• ViewModel and LiveData
• StateFlow and SharedFlow in Android
• Repository pattern
• Data layer architecture
• Use cases / Interactors
• Dependency injection with Hilt
• Hilt setup and annotations
• @HiltAndroidApp, @HiltViewModel
• Providing dependencies
• Scopes in Hilt
• Testing with Hilt
• Clean Architecture in Android
• Separation of concerns

Topics Covered

• SharedPreferences for simple data
• DataStore (Preferences and Proto)
• Room database introduction
• Entity, DAO, Database classes
• Room with Kotlin Coroutines
• Room with Flow
• Database migrations
• Relationships in Room
• Type converters
• Database testing
• File storage basics
• Internal vs external storage

Topics Covered

• HTTP basics for Android
• Retrofit library for REST APIs
• Setting up Retrofit
• Defining API interfaces
• GET, POST, PUT, DELETE requests
• Query parameters and path variables
• Request and response models
• JSON parsing with Gson/Moshi
• kotlinx.serialization in Android
• OkHttp interceptors

• Authentication headers
• Error handling in network calls
• Coroutines with Retrofit
• Loading states management
• Offline caching strategies

Topics Covered

• Coil library for image loading
• Glide library
• Image caching strategies
• Placeholder and error images
• Image transformations
• AsyncImage in Compose
• Loading images from network
• Camera integration
• Gallery access
• Image picker
• Video playback: ExoPlayer
• Media permissions
• MediaStore API
• Uploading images to server

Topics Covered

• Material Design 3 principles
• Dynamic theming
• Color schemes in Material 3
• Custom themes and colors
• Typography in Compose
• Scaffold and top app bar
• Bottom sheet in Compose
• Dialogs and alerts
• Snackbars and toasts
• Tabs with TabRow

• Chips and badges
• Progress indicators
• Swipe to refresh
• Pull to refresh
• Custom composables creation

Topics Covered

• WorkManager for background tasks
• One-time and periodic work
• Constraints for WorkManager
• Chaining work requests
• Monitoring work status
• Foreground services
• Notifications in Android
• NotificationCompat builder
• Notification channels
• Push notifications with Firebase
• FCM integration
• Handling notification clicks
• AlarmManager for scheduling
• JobScheduler basics

Topics Covered

• Unit testing in Android
• JUnit for Android
• Testing ViewModels
• Testing coroutines in Android
• Mocking with MockK
• Instrumented tests
• Espresso for UI testing
• Compose UI testing
• Testing navigation
• Testing Room database
• Testing network calls
• Test doubles and fakes
• Screenshot testing
• Code coverage in Android

Topics Covered

• Android performance profiling
• CPU profiler in Android Studio
• Memory profiler
• Network profiler
• Layout Inspector
• Detecting memory leaks
• LeakCanary integration
• App startup optimization
• Lazy loading strategies
• Image optimization

• Database query optimization
• Compose performance
• Recomposition optimization
• Battery optimization
• App size reduction

Topics Covered

• Preparing app for release
• App signing with keystore
• ProGuard and R8
• Code obfuscation
• Building release APK/AAB
• Google Play Console setup
• Creating store listing
• Screenshots and graphics
• App versioning strategy
• Release management

• Beta testing with Play Console
• Internal testing tracks
• App updates and migrations
• Analytics integration: Firebase Analytics
• Crash reporting: Firebase Crashlytics

Topics Covered

• Android security overview
• Secure data storage
• Encrypted SharedPreferences
• Keystore system
• Biometric authentication
• Certificate pinning
• ProGuard for security
• SQL injection prevention
• Secure network communication
• HTTPS enforcement

• API key protection
• Code obfuscation
• Root detection
• SafetyNet API
• OWASP mobile security

Topics Covered

• Choosing the capstone: a complete Android app with real data, offline behavior and polished Compose UI
• A one-page spec: scope, milestones, stack
• Repository and project skeleton ready on day one
• Instructor sign-off before the build begins

Topics Covered

• Two focused weeks of building in vertical slices
• Instructor checkpoints and honest scope cuts
• Using the whole course: Kotlin depth, coroutines, Compose, architecture and testing
• Daily commits and an always-working build

Topics Covered

• The finishing pass: edge cases, errors, documentation
• Store-readiness pass: assets, versioning and the honest release checklist
• A README worth reading and a demo worth watching
• A full-course spiral review before the exam

Topics Covered

• Presenting the capstone: live demo plus the hardest bug story
• The honest map of next roads: production Android work, Kotlin backend services, or multiplatform
• Where our other courses continue the journey