Head First Kotlin: A Brain-Friendly Guide

This is hands down the best book I've read on Kotlin, and quite possibly the best programming book I've read, full stop! (or "period", as they say in some places). First, It's written in a chatty way, so you feel you're having a conversation with a friend at a pub, rather than trawling through impenetrable prose. Second, the language is simple and illustrations are used in just the right places to give a visual picture of what they're talking about. Third, they build all the concepts up from the ground, leaving nothing confusing (One of my pet hates of alot of tutorials online is that they explain only some of the stuff, leaving you with the sinking feeling that you don't really understand the important stuff).Thank you, I was finding Kotlin difficult until I picked up this book, and now I'm just feeling like a thicko for not having understood it before, which is all credit to the clarity and simplicity of the way this books explains it.

I'm not a Kotlin expert, but I wonder if significant changes have occurred in the language since update to Kotlin 1.4 ?I'm 2 chapters in, and I have some valid concerns. It presents Integers as having reference pointers, suggesting if I create two different integers (x and y), and use x = y ... it should assign the reference pointer of x to y ... and if I change x in the future, it should also change the value of y. I've written code to test this, and it doesn't happen.They push this in Chapter 2 when presenting concept of an array. A static array at the end of the chapter has 5 values. This array is constructed using 'val' suggesting you can't reassign a new array to it, but the chapter wants you to think that you can still reassign values inside the array (which appears to be valid). However, it wants you to think that by assigning array[0] = array[1] is not passing an Int value... but is actually passing a pointer reference.Further searching online reveals that such base scalar data types are simply pass by value. Granted ... this concept is important with objects later on, but the language at Kotlin 1.4 does not permit pass by reference for Integers.Maybe we're due for an update ... ?Review to be updated as I continue thru the book. It's probably the easiest read I've had as far as programming is concerned. I wish that Herbert Schildt wrote a Kotlin book.

I have been a huge long-time fan of Head First books. I find most traditional computer texts to be really boring, and not great for much other than a reference. These books are laid out very well, and their approach is not dry. They make it cheesy, campy, funny, and fun, and it is done well enough to keep you interested and for you to remember what you learned.Note that this book is a beginner level book. If you already know how to program and if you are looking for a reference to learn a new language, you might not prefer this book. I have been a software engineer for over 20 years, but I still think this book is good. I find that I can skip the parts that I don't need to learn. I can get a good introduction to Kotlin, and then I can pass the book on to one of my kids so that he can learn to program while also learning Kotlin.

This is one of the better resources for learning Kotlin. Everything is explained very clearly which makes learning even some of the more advanced concepts of the Kotlin language relatively easy. I highly recommend starting with this book and reading it cover to cover. I tried a few books and online videos about Kotlin, but this is really the one that teaches it the best and helps reinforce the knowledge.

It is the book I definitely recommend as the best way to start learning Kotlin. It is really engaging and fun and I agree with the opinion of another learner that it helps you (re)gain your joy in writing code. Everything is explained in detail with clear diagrams and pictures and playful examples from wild animal interfaces to synchronous drum beats (I think it was a brilliant idea to illustrate coroutines this way). The book brought me a real joy of learning. I'm a huge fan of the Head First books and I believe I will read a few more, maybe just to feel the pleasure of learning something new.

What I can say, definitely this book is not related to the Java. This book is about Kotlin from the beginning till the ending.I like to read this book, it is a good book mostly, but I cannot answer on the question for who was created this book? Some topics are super lengthy with some thrash, I thought it is made for the beginners but this topics don't have detailed explanation. For example, why do I need few pages with explanation how class inheritance is working? I know this information as Software Engineer, but if I will a beginner, I cannot understand it because OOP is not explained in this book.Everything else is great, I can recommend it more for the beginners. If you experienced Java/C# developer, you can skip this book and read the official documentation and few articles in the web.

Most Kotlin books out there are written with the assumption that the reader is already familiar with Java. This one does not make that mistake. It takes the reader by the hand and clearly explains the language step by step.The only downer that I noticed is that there are a few typos spread here and there, some of which contradict what's being explained and can make things confusing at times.

They did a great job once again, if you are not familiar with object oriented programming this is a good start.If you are an expert in another language this will be a quick reference for the basic topics but will not be a deep reference.

Having purchased "Kotlin in Action" and a Coursera course to learn Kotlin I wish this book had been available six or so months ago. Clarified a lot of things I either misunderstood or just didn't get. As with other 'Head First" books easy to read with excellent real-world examples.The only book (as of April 2019) that covers 'Coroutines' one of the 'killer' features of Kotlin. The Drum Machine application for Coroutines was interesting and easy to understand.

Arrived late, although it was prime delivery... Else all is great... Love the book...

Some of the typos in this book are a joke. Wherefore the editor?? Jeff Bleiel... shape up man

It was my first book of the "Head first" series, and will definitely be the last. As a 25-yr experienced teacher in University, teaching programing languages to thousands of students, I found this book verbose, inappropriate as concerns the writing style and the overall approach (unless the intended audience is made of teenagers), and above all not going in depth on nearly anything -- in fact, every time an issue would have called for some more in depth discussion, it merely forwards the reader to online URLs and documentation. IMHO, which is exactly the opposite a book should do: online tutorials are good enough for first contact, books should be aimed at supporting precisely more in depth reasoning, and at promoting reflection and thinking. Instead, this book often lacks a clear motivation to explain language choices, which I found counter-educational: for instance, it often merely states that "the compiler will not accept this" or that, instead of trying to explain why, which are the motivations behind -- and when it does, it is typically a one-line sentence.Overall, it may be my fault to choose the wrong book in the wrong series, but honestly I'd never suggest it to anyone else then a teenager, or alike: if I could bo back in time, I'd never buy it -- in fact I'm thinking of reselling it as used.

This book is a great tool for new comers to programming and Kotlin. I like it a lot how the book explains the concepts. It is very well structured and it has different activities to apply and practice the different topics.