Language Briefing — Kotlin 2.0 Ships the K2 Compiler
Kotlin 2.0 arrived on 21 May 2024 with the new K2 compiler reaching general availability, Kotlin Multiplatform graduating to stable, and Compose Multiplatform updates that require build pipeline adjustments.
Executive briefing: JetBrains released Kotlin 2.0 on , completing the multi-year K2 compiler rewrite and stabilising multiplatform tooling.
Feature highlights
- K2 compiler GA. Faster analysis, improved diagnostics, and better IDE performance land across JVM, Android, and multiplatform projects.
- Kotlin Multiplatform stable. Shared business logic across Android, iOS, desktop, and web now carries a stable API guarantee.
- Compose Multiplatform advances. New Material 3 widgets and navigation APIs simplify shared UI development.
- Tooling updates. Gradle plugin changes, new language warnings, and compiler flags require CI upgrades.
Adoption steps
- Upgrade build scripts to the Kotlin 2.0 Gradle plugin and verify CI caches to capture K2 compiler improvements.
- Audit multiplatform modules for newly stable APIs and align dependency versions across mobile and desktop targets.
- Coordinate with design system teams to plan Compose Multiplatform adoption and regression testing.