valbaca / klox

A lox compiler written in Kotlin, from Crafting Interpreters https://craftinginterpreters.com/

klox: a lox compiler written in Kotlin

At the same time Crafting Interpreters came up next on my reading list, I was also learning Kotlin. To knock two birds with one stone, this repo is an implementation of the lox compiler written in Kotlin.

The Java complier is called jlox and the one written in C is called clox. Naturally, the Kotlin version would be called klox

Why?

To learn and become familiar with Kotlin by using a reference written in Java

Kotlin has nice features (compared to Java):

1. Null-safety by default, unlike Java where NPEs abound
2. Kotlin is more functional: functions are first-class (rather than just public static methods)
3. when statements are more expressive/flexible than switch/case/break
4. val is better than final on every line making my eyes bleed
5. Properties over getters/setters
6. String templates
7. TODO() is literally built into Kotlin
8. Simple in keyword for collections and ranges
9. with saves repetition (like with writer.println)