Get started with Kotlin/Native using the command-line compiler

Download and install the compiler

The Kotlin/Native compiler works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. It's available as a command line tool and ships as part of the standard Kotlin distribution. You can download it from our GitHub Releases page.

The compiler supports different targets including Linux, macOS, iOS, and others. See the full list of supported targets. While cross-platform compilation is possible, which means using one platform to compile for a different one, in this case, you'll be targeting the same platform you're compiling on.

To install the compiler, unpack its archive to a directory of your choice and add the path to its /bin directory to the PATH environment variable.

Write "Hello, Kotlin/Native" program

The application will print "Hello, Kotlin/Native" on the standard output. Choose a working directory and create a file there named hello.kt. Update it with the following code:

fun main() {
  println("Hello, Kotlin/Native!")
}

Compile the code from the console

To compile the application, execute the following command with the downloaded compiler:

kotlinc-native hello.kt -o hello

The value of -o option specifies the name of the output file, so this call should generate a hello.kexe (Linux and macOS) or hello.exe (Windows) binary file. For the full list of available options, see Kotlin compiler options.

While compilation from the console seems to be easy and clear, it doesn't scale well for larger projects with hundreds of files and libraries. For real-world projects, it is recommended to use a build system and an IDE.

Run the program

To run the program, in your command line tool, navigate to the directory containing the hello.kexe (or hello.exe) file and run the ./hello.kexe (or ./hello.exe) command. The application should print "Hello, Kotlin/Native" on the standard output.

Last modified: 24 June 2024