Introduction to Variables
A variable is a way to store data or information in our code, and what we store can be of numerous types. Let’s look at a simple example:
var firstExample: Int = 1
In the first line, we made a variable (denoted as ‘var’), gave it the name ‘firstExample’, and stored the value 1. Its type is also declared as an Int, short for integer. So variables have a type, a name, and (usually) a value.
Variable Naming
Why it’s Important
var x: Double = 1.10
var y: Double = 50.00
var z: Double = x * y
As you will learn throughout your coding experiences, the names given to variables are often neglected. If you’re reading through someone’s code and every variable is named with letters from the alphabet, imagine how difficult it would it be to explain every line of their code. In the example above, what do vars x, y, and z represent? You can make some inferences if you’re given more context and the application of these lines of code, but it’s much easier to have your code look like this:
var salesTax: Double = 1.10
var retailPrice: Double = 50.00
var totalDue: Double = salesTax * retailPrice
Now the person reading this code can say that the program could have been written for a sales clerk who wants to calculate the paid amount due for every customer. While this example may be simple, having to decipher, say, 700-1000 lines of code, throughout which all of the variables were named in this manner would be outrageously frustrating!
namingConventions
There are two main rules to variable naming: 1) Variables are named after what they do, and 2) naming follows the camel case standard, in which the first word in the variable name is lower case and the first letter of every word following is capitalized.
In the example above, we had a variable that stored the sales tax multiplier, so we named the variable salesTax (there are numerous possibilities for the name, but it’s up to the programmer and her/his style choice). Make sure to follow the camel case standard throughout your programs; remember, you want your code to be as clear and consistent as possible!
If you want more details on the camel case rules, check out Geeks for Geeks. There is a lot of information in that particular article that may not be relevant for you yet, but it delves into some good examples with variable naming.
Values
Values are immutable variables, or variables that can’t be changed over time. While normal variables can be changed and reset, values can’t be reassigned after initialization.
A real-life example would be pi: by definition, pi is a constant, and we can use it for numerous calculations, such as the diameter of a circle.
val pi = 3.14
Using Kotlin vals is good coding practice and can lead to more readable code. We can use immutable variables for values that we know won’t change throughout the lifetime of a program. As such, this optimizes the computer since it doesn’t have to account for reassignments.
We want our code to make sense to us, too; while declaring PI as a Kotlin variable is acceptable, it is more appropriate to store it in a val so that it functions solely as a constant. We can also test our own code with a lot more accuracy since Kotlin vals ensure less of a gray area within in our own program.
Types of Variables
The official Kotlin site has a great description of all the primitive types used in Kotlin; the ones most commonly used are Ints, Doubles, and Booleans, and Strings.
val foo: Int = 100
val basicInt = 6
val dummy: Double = 72.56
var isCorrect: Boolean = true
val myName: String = "Bill Gates"
‘foo’ is an Int set to the value of 100; Ints are typically used for storing whole numbers. While ‘basicInt’ doesn’t have an explicit type, the Kotlin compiler knows that it is of type Int since we assigned an integer value to it. Even though types aren’t required, it’s good practice to always list a type when declaring a variable, as it leads to more readable code.
‘dummy’ is a Double set to a mixed decimal value of 72.56; as you can infer, Doubles are typically used for fractional and decimal values.
‘isCorrect’ is a Boolean, a type that only has two possible values: true or false. Booleans come in handy more often than one might think; for example, say you built a program that grades students’ exams and you want to know whether a student’s answer to a question was correct. You might store this property in a series of Boolean variables for every question, with true being that the student answered correctly, and false being that they didn’t.
Lastly, the variable ‘myName’ is a String. A String in Kotlin is simply text; conventionally, we call a String literal a “string” of text surrounded in quotes. So, ‘myName’ is a String that stores the String literal “Bill Gates.”
When Types are Required
var thirdExample: Int
thirdExample = 9
If we don’t store a value in a variable when declaring it, the compiler forces us to list an explicit type. For the variable ‘thirdExample’, we initialize its value in the next line by giving it a value of 9.
Math Operators
Kotlin supports the standard set of arithmetic operators, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division for any of its numeric types (such as Ints, Doubles, Floats, etc.):
1: val foo1: Int = 7
2: val foo2: Int = 11
3: val positiveNum: Int = foo1 + foo2
4: println(positiveNum) // prints 18
5: val negativeNum: Int = foo1 - foo2
6: println(negativeNum) // prints -4
7: val product = 2 * 4
8: println(product) // prints 8
9: val remainder: Int = 12 % 2
10: println(remainder) // prints 0
11: val quotient: Int = 12 / 5
12: println(quotient) // prints 2
While most of the operators should be familiar to you, the one on line 9 may not! The ‘%’ symbol is called the modulus operator. The statement a % b returns the remainder of a divided by b. Hence, the val we declared called ‘remainder’ stores 0 since the remainder of 12 / 2 is 0.
Type Inference
In many cases we can chose to omit the type of the variable and the compiler is smart and figures it out. This is not a guess by the compiler but an exact result based on math operations on the rest of the program. If it’s not able to do that then Kotlin will give an error.
Type inference can make your code often more readable by reducing clutter and make you more productive, but keep in mind that sometimes
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