JetBrains is the company which created the Kotlin programming language. There is a cost for the whole course, but it’s well worth it. The exercises which follow the learning atoms reinforce the learning. The course places real emphasis on learning atoms in a practical way by using multiple examples and guiding the user with accompanying theory. Overall the course gets the user up to speed learning Kotlin quickly in a structured format. Alternatively, the book is available in various formats on LeanPub. The theory atoms are free for the first two sections of the course, but to access all of them online you will have to purchase the whole course on Stepik. It is targeted at both novice developers and experienced programmers coming from another language.

The course was created by Bruce Eckel author of the award-winning books Thinking in Java and Thinking in C++ and many other programming titles, and Svetlana Isakova, formerly on the Kotlin compiler team, co-author of the book Kotlin in Action and a Kotlin developer advocate for JetBrains. Particularly helpful during the course is introducing and then reinforcing the most useful keyboard shortcuts for various actions within IntelliJ IDEA. The explanations are straightforward and do not stretch out to cover multiple scenarios which can detract from the core points. The atoms in each section of the course are clear and succinct. On opening IntelliJ IDEA Edu for the first time you should see this screen: To add educational functionality to an existing version of IntelliJ IDEA you will need to download and install the EduTools plugin available with instructions here: Īny issues installing IntelliJ IDEA Edu or the plugin please refer to the Troubleshooting guide The IntelliJ IDEA Edu is a free IDE for learning and teaching programming. All of the courses can also be done using Android Studio. You also gain familiarity with the Integrated Development Environment, IntelliJ IDEA and you benefit from all the compile time checks and power tools of working in the IDE. The advantage of this approach is that you are applying what you have learnt straight away.

This article reviews some of the courses available with the EduTools Plugin in IntelliJ IDEA where you can read up on the theory and then practise completing exercises directly in the IDE.

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