While the popularity of most of the older programming languages is slowly decreasing, new players on the market emerge. Kotlin is surely one of the brightest shining stars on the market, with some big increases in usage in recent years.
According to the Stack Overflow’s 2019 Developer Survey (based on responses from over 90,000 developers), Kotlin is currently the 4th most loved and 5th most wanted programming language on the market. This means that Kotlin managed to beat classics like C#, C++, and Java. Around 6,4% of developers also said that they are using Kotlin in their development work — a score very similar to the iOS native programming language, Swift.
And while Kotlin is most often used for Android app development, its popularity rises also due to the language’s actual versatility. Kotlin can be easily used for other types of projects, especially those for which Java is normally used, such as back-end web development.
Due to the current surge in Kotlin’s popularity, you might be wondering how to make sure you hire Kotlin developers with proper real-life experience and skills instead of newcomers. To help you out in making the right decisions, we prepared this guide on what things you should remember about when you are looking for Kotlin developers for hire.
The hard skills of best Kotlin developers
Whether you want to hire Kotlin developers for the development of an Android app, website’s back-end, or for other purposes, a set of specific technical skills has to be considered. We list the most crucial ones below.
- Excellent knowledge of both Kotlin and Java
Expert knowledge of Kotlin sounds like an obvious thing when planning to hire a Kotlin developer but why add Java to it? It’s because most of the projects that make use of Kotlin, incorporate also Java, at least to some extent. According to a report by JetBrains, over 86% of Kotlin developers also use Java regularly. Moreover, most Kotlin users are former Java developers — they migrate to the new technology thanks to some great features that Java is lacking, such as native support for optionals and less code that needs to be written in order to get similar results.
- Proficiency in XML
The XML markup language is crucial in Android and web development as it helps both with creating the layout of the app/site as well as parsing data from the database/server to the app/site itself. Without knowing how to use XML and how to connect it with Kotlin, your new developer won’t be much of use.
- Experience with SQL and Linux
These two skills are especially important for Kotlin developers working on a website’s back-end. It would be also good if your new dev has previous experience with technologies like AWS, REST, or Apache Kafka. Discuss with other developers in your team or a software consultant what other tools are necessary for your project.
- Experience with Android Studio and other Android tools
There are a number of tools that come in handy when you plan to hire Kotlin developers for the purpose of building a mobile Android app. Android Studio is surely the most important environment to consider, but there are also other ones that might come in handy, such as Firebase and Toolbar. Remember also about automated testing skills with the use of tools like Espresso.
Most important Kotlin developer soft skills
However, being a tech expert is not enough to thrive in the modern work environment. A Kotlin developer often has to work with other developers and different teams in order to get the results your business needs. Designers, sales teams, customer success managers, and more — interactions with all these people allow a developer to significantly improve the product, either by making it more innovative or simply better at answering the needs of customers.
To get the best teamwork possible at your company, think about the following soft skills when planning to hire a Kotlin developer.
- Researcher attitude
In the world of mobile, following current trends is crucial to making sure your app stays at the top of download lists. Being up-to-date is important from both design and functionality perspective — at least every few years, your app needs to be completely redesigned according to current trends and new features should be included regularly depending on what is currently popular among customers. If your Kotlin developer follows the market really well, you might actually end up doing the right changes before most of your competitors, getting ahead of them in time.
- Understanding of the user’s perspective
Especially crucial when developing an Android app. Users of mobiles vary and many of them have only limited understanding of how their devices work. As a Kotlin developer is often playing around with the UI of the app, they have to be able to put themselves in the shoes of a less tech-savvy person to build a truly user-friendly interface.
- Expert time management and adaptability
A developer’s job is not simply sitting by a desk and freely coding something. The role involves also the technical maintenance of the product (especially when talking about a back-end developer), working on new features (including the planning phase), running tests, and much more. But even a perfectly planned out day might fall apart if suddenly a huge bug or other issue happens. Then, a Kotlin developer has to quickly adjust their plan so the problem can be fixed as soon as possible.
This skill is especially crucial in smaller teams within younger startups, where developers often have to self-manage themselves and are not helped by team leaders, product owners, or IT project managers.
Hire Kotlin developers who fit your business
Your app development process might get even more efficient if you hire Kotlin developers that are really tailored to your business. How can you assess their fit to your company? There are three main areas to consider.
- Industry fit
It’s recommended to hire a Kotlin developer who already has some experience in the industry you are operating in. Bringing such a person to work on your project means also bringing the knowledge of solutions that have already proved to be successful within your market.
- Product fit
Just like in terms of industry fit, product fit means investing in a Kotlin developer who already worked on a product similar to yours. Look for as many similarities as possible between their previous work and your current project. Once again, it’s all about bringing to your team a person with the experience of working on features that can be easily implemented also in your product.
- Company culture fit
While the previous two areas improve the efficiency of technical development, company culture fit improves teamwork and boosts innovation at your company. Hiring a Kotlin developer who shares similar values as you and your colleagues will build a connection of understanding between everyone in the office.
Top 10 Kotlin developer interview questions
When you finally choose the most promising candidates, it’s time to run technical job interviews. If you aren’t yourself a Kotlin expert, we highly encourage you to get assistance from someone more proficient in the technology, such as another relevant developer, IT project manager, or a software consultant.
To give you an idea of how such a Kotlin developer job interview can look like, we list below some of our favorite Kotlin-related job interview questions.
- What's a volatile variable and how to use it in Kotlin?
- What’s RecyclerView used for on Android?
- How to parse XML in Kotlin?
- What are some of the features of Kotlin that are missing in Java?
- When would you use lateinit over lazy initialization?
- When is the Elvis operator used?
- Coroutine Scope vs Context — what's the difference between the two?
- Why are coroutines considered better than RxJava?
- What’s the !! (double bang) operator?
- Give an example of a piece of code that is much shorter in Kotlin than in Java.
Beyond Kotlin development
A good Kotlin developer can surely be the backbone of the technical part of your project. But to make your product truly successful, you might also need other great talents to join your team, filling roles like product owner, UX/UI designer, IT project manager, front-end developer, or a Swift developer — if you want to take your mobile app to iOS as well.
Whatever type of talent you require, we can help. At Ideamotive, we run a network of trustworthy IT professionals coming from different fields and specialties. After discussing with you your project, we can connect you with experts tailored to your exact needs, with previous experience in your industry and the type of product you are working on.
Get in touch with us today and start building your dream team.
