This post is an introduction to Kotlin for Android development. Learn how the language differs from Java and the basic syntax and layout.

Two years after tapping Kotlin for use in Android mobile development -- long dominated by Java -- Google is making it the No. 1 option.

Starting with Android 12 and its third developer preview, Google will now show an auto-generated splash screen on all apps.

The promotion of Kotlin, which was created by Czech-based IDE maker JetBrains, is all part of Google's commitment to the language for Android app development.

Kotlin offers big advantages over Java for JVM and Android development, and plays nicely with Java in the same projects.