Calling Java from Kotlin – Interoperability

Things to consider when calling Java from Kotlin.

fun main() {
    val car = Car("silver", "Audi", "A3", "3.2 V6", "Leather", 2004)
    car.colour = "Akoya silver" // Can only refer to this like a property if getter and setters are set in Java. Will work without setter if property is public, but not usually desirable
    // Wildcard assignments in Java are converted to use-site variance in Kotlin. ? extends someClass -> out someClass, ? super someClass -> in someClass
    // If you call a Java method that throws an exception and you don't handle the exception in the code, you don't have to declare that the Kotlin function throws the exception - Kotlin doesn't care
    // varargs: If you want to call a Java method that wants multiple arguments:
    car.variableMethod(5, "hello", "goodbye") // This works
    val strings = arrayOf("hello", "goodbye")
//    car.variableMethod(10, strings) // But it doesn't allow us to pass in an array
    car.variableMethod(10, *strings) // So we need to use the spread operator to unpack the array
    // Kotlin doesn't have void, so it will return Unit
    // As previously discussed, when Java method expects primitive types we cannot use arrayOf. We need to use e.g. intArrayOf or call .toIntArray on the array:
//    car.wantsIntArray(arrayOf(1, 2, 3)) // Nope
    car.wantsIntArray(intArrayOf(1, 2, 3)) // Fine
    car.wantsIntArray(arrayOf(1, 2, 3).toIntArray()) // Fine
    // Any? is top of Kotlin hierarchy, Object is top of Java. What happens when Java calls Object explicitly? Will be treated like Any in Kotlin.
    // However, does not have methods such as wait(), notify(), clone() or finalize(). If wanting to call these cast the variable to java.lang.Object in your Kotlin code:
//    car.anObject.equals("bh") // Has equals() method and some others but missing the methods listed above
//    (car.anObject as java.lang.Object).notify() // All methods now available on casting
    // Static methods and fields are translated to companion objects. You can't pass the companion object around as a value but you can use its members
    println("x = ${Car.x}") // Accessing static variable
    println(Car.xString()) // The same as calling a companion object
    // Single Abstract Method (SAM) interface as of Java 8, can use lambda. E.g. Runnable interface is a SAM (see Car.java demoMethod and demoMethod2)
    // If a Java method wants an object that implements a SAM interface e.g. Runnable then you can pass it a Kotlin function:
    car.demoMethod3 ({ println("I'm in a Thread") }) // Function signature has to match parameter, in this case Runnable
}
package academy.learnprogamming.javainteroperability;


import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull; // N.B. Had to prompt for download from Maven
import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;

public class Car {

    public static int x = 5;

    private String colour;
    private String manufacturer;
    private String model;
    private String variant;
    private String interior;
    private int year;
    private Object anObject;

    public Car(String colour, String manufacturer, String model, String variant, String interior, int year) {
        this.colour = colour;
        this.manufacturer = manufacturer;
        this.model = model;
        this.variant = variant;
        this.interior = interior;
        this.year = year;
    }

    public void demoMethod() {
        new Thread(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                System.out.println("I'm in a Thread");
            }
        }).start();
    }

    public void demoMethod2() {
        new Thread(() -> System.out.println("I'm in a Thread")).start();
    }

    public void demoMethod3(Runnable r) {
        new Thread(r).start();
    }

    public static String xString() {
        return "This is x: " + x++;
    }

    public String getColour() {
        return colour;
    }

    public void setColour(@NotNull String colour) { // @NotNull comes from JetBrains, not Java. Not enforced by Java.
        this.colour = colour;
    }

    public String getManufacturer() {
        return manufacturer;
    }

    public void setManufacturer(@Nullable String manufacturer) {
        this.manufacturer = manufacturer;
    }

    public String getModel() {
        return model;
    }

    public void setModel(String model) {
        this.model = model;
    }

    public String getVariant() {
        return variant;
    }

    public void setVariant(String variant) {
        this.variant = variant;
    }

    public @Nullable String getInterior() {
        return interior;
    }

    public void setInterior(String interior) {
        this.interior = interior;
    }

    public int getYear() {
        return year;
    }

    public void setYear(int year) {
        this.year = year;
    }

    public Object getAnObject() {
        return anObject;
    }

    public void setAnObject(Object anObject) {
        this.anObject = anObject;
    }

    public void variableMethod(int num, String... strings) {
        for (String string: strings) {
            System.out.println(string);
        }
    }

    public void wantsIntArray(int[] theArray) {
        for (int i: theArray) {
            System.out.println(i);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "Car{" +
                "colour='" + colour + '\'' +
                ", manufacturer='" + manufacturer + '\'' +
                ", model='" + model + '\'' +
                ", variant='" + variant + '\'' +
                ", interior='" + interior + '\'' +
                ", year=" + year +
                '}';
    }
}

 

Broadcast Receiver

Listens out for designated System Broadcast Intents via an IntentFilter (declared in the AndroidManifest.xml) so that your app can respond to changes in the system. It can be triggered even when the app is not running. There are two types:

  • Static (Manifest-declared) – triggered whenever the broadcast intent occurs, even if the app is offline
  • Dynamic (Context-registered) – tied to the app’s lifecycle

It is preferred that dynamic broadcast receivers or job scheduling is used over static broadcast receivers, as abuse of statics could result in multiple apps responding to a system event. For this reason, some broadcast intents will not let you create a corresponding static receiver. These intents have FLAG_RECEIVER_REGISTERED_ONLY flag set.

For a static broadcast receiver you will register the receiver in the AndroidManifest.xml:

<receiver android:name=".MyBroadcastReceiver"  android:exported="true">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED"/>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.INPUT_METHOD_CHANGED" />
    </intent-filter>
</receiver>

Then implement the receiver like so:

public class MyBroadcastReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
        private static final String TAG = "MyBroadcastReceiver";
        @Override
        public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
            // Do something
        }
    }

For a dynamic receiver you register and un-register the receiver in the onResume() and onPause method overrides respectively:

public class MyBroadcastReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
        private static final String TAG = "MyBroadcastReceiver";
        BroadcastReceiver br = new MyBroadcastReceiver();
        @Override
        public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
            //Do something
        }
    
    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    IntentFilter filter = new IntentFilter(ConnectivityManager.CONNECTIVITY_ACTION);
    filter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_AIRPLANE_MODE_CHANGED);
    this.registerReceiver(br, filter);
    @Override
    protected void onPause() {
    super.onPause();
    this.unRegisterReceiver(br);
    }
}

The potential issue with the above example of a Dynamic receiver is that it will only check for changes once onResume has initiated, and so if the system status changes while the app is not visible, it may hold the incorrect status when the app starts. Adding the code to the onCreate and onDestroy methods would result in unnecessary actions occurring in the background when the app is not visible. To overcome this, check for the current system status on onResume in addition to registering the broadcast receiver. See an example here.

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