jetbrains/kotlin

Analysis updated 2026-06-20

★ 52,689KotlinAudience · developerComplexity · 5/5LicenseSetup · hard

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Kotlin lang))
    What it does
      Kotlin compiler source
      JetBrains maintained
      Build tool plugins
    Components
      Compiler core
      Gradle plugin
      Maven plugin
      IntelliJ plugin
    Compile Targets
      JVM bytecode
      JavaScript
      WebAssembly
    Audience
      Language contributors
      Plugin developers
      Compiler researchers

mindmap root((Kotlin lang)) What it does Kotlin compiler source JetBrains maintained Build tool plugins Components Compiler core Gradle plugin Maven plugin IntelliJ plugin Compile Targets JVM bytecode JavaScript WebAssembly Audience Language contributors Plugin developers Compiler researchers

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Contribute a bug fix or feature to the Kotlin compiler itself.

USE CASE 2

Build a custom Kotlin compiler plugin for static analysis or code generation.

USE CASE 3

Study how a modern JVM language compiler handles type checking and bytecode generation.

USE CASE 4

Explore Kotlin's WebAssembly compilation target.

What is it built with?

KotlinGradleMavenIntelliJWebAssembly

How does it compare?

	jetbrains/kotlin	2dust/v2rayng	square/okhttp
Stars	52,689	55,560	46,950
Language	Kotlin	Kotlin	Kotlin
Setup difficulty	hard	hard	easy
Complexity	5/5	3/5	2/5
Audience	developer	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1day+

Building the Kotlin compiler from source requires JDK and Gradle and can take significant time and storage resources.

Apache 2.0, use and modify freely for any purpose, including commercial use.

In plain English

This is the official source repository for the Kotlin programming language, maintained by JetBrains. Kotlin is a programming language, and this repository contains the compiler that turns Kotlin code into runnable programs, along with plugins for build tools Gradle and Maven, and a plugin for the IntelliJ development environment. The topics also list support for WebAssembly (wasm), which is a format for running code in web browsers. The README does not provide further detail about the language's features, syntax, or use cases, so a complete explanation is not possible from the provided data alone.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Walk me through the structure of the Kotlin compiler repository, where is the parser, type checker, and code generator?

Prompt 2

How do I build the Kotlin compiler from source and run the test suite locally?

Prompt 3

Show me how to write a Kotlin compiler plugin that processes a custom annotation at compile time.

Prompt 4

What is the process for submitting a bug fix to the official Kotlin compiler on GitHub?

Frequently asked questions

What is kotlin?

The official source repository for the Kotlin programming language, maintained by JetBrains. Contains the compiler, Gradle and Maven plugins, IntelliJ IDE plugin, and WebAssembly support.

What language is kotlin written in?

Mainly Kotlin. The stack also includes Kotlin, Gradle, Maven.

What license does kotlin use?

Apache 2.0, use and modify freely for any purpose, including commercial use.

How hard is kotlin to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1day+ to a first successful run.

Who is kotlin for?

Mainly developer.

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