Kotlin + Compose: Idiomatic Efficiency Reference

Table of Contents

1. Collections & Data Transformation
2. Null Safety
3. Functions & Lambdas
4. Classes & Objects
5. Coroutines & Flow
6. Compose UI
7. Anti-patterns specific to Kotlin

---

1. Collections & Data Transformation {#collections}

Prefer scope functions and stdlib transforms over imperative loops.

// ❌ Verbose
val result = mutableListOf<String>()
for (item in items) {
    if (item.isActive) {
        result.add(item.name.uppercase())
    }
}

// ✅ Idiomatic
val result = items.filter { it.isActive }.map { it.name.uppercase() }

// ❌ Manual grouping
val map = mutableMapOf<String, MutableList<Item>>()
for (item in items) {
    map.getOrPut(item.category) { mutableListOf() }.add(item)
}

// ✅
val map = items.groupBy { it.category }

// ❌ Manual fold
var total = 0
for (order in orders) total += order.amount

// ✅
val total = orders.sumOf { it.amount }

Use associate, associateBy, partition, flatMap, zip instead of manual equivalents.

---

2. Null Safety {#null-safety}

// ❌ Unnecessary null check when Elvis suffices
val name: String
if (user?.name != null) {
    name = user.name
} else {
    name = "Guest"
}

// ✅
val name = user?.name ?: "Guest"

// ❌ Double null check
if (response != null && response.body != null) {
    process(response.body!!)
}

// ✅
response?.body?.let { process(it) }

// ❌ !! without guard
val value = nullable!!.doSomething()

// ✅ Make the non-null contract explicit at the boundary
val value = requireNotNull(nullable) { "nullable must be set before calling X" }.doSomething()
// Or return early:
val n = nullable ?: return

---

3. Functions & Lambdas {#functions}

// ❌ Single-expression function with unnecessary block body
fun double(x: Int): Int {
    return x * 2
}

// ✅
fun double(x: Int) = x * 2

// ❌ Lambda capturing unused parameter
items.forEach { item -> doSomething() }

// ✅
items.forEach { doSomething() }

// ❌ Redundant with/apply nesting
val builder = Builder()
builder.setName("x")
builder.setAge(1)
val result = builder.build()

// ✅
val result = Builder().apply {
    setName("x")
    setAge(1)
}.build()

Prefer let, run, apply, also, with over repeated receiver references — but don't nest more than 2 levels deep.

---

4. Classes & Objects {#classes}

// ❌ Mutable class for immutable data
class Point {
    var x: Int = 0
    var y: Int = 0
}

// ✅
data class Point(val x: Int, val y: Int)

// ❌ Companion object just to hold a constant
class Foo {
    companion object {
        val TAG = "Foo"
    }
}

// ✅ — top-level if only used in this file
private const val TAG = "Foo"
class Foo

// ❌ Enum with when that has to be updated in two places
enum class Status { ACTIVE, INACTIVE }
fun label(s: Status) = when(s) { Status.ACTIVE -> "Active"; Status.INACTIVE -> "Inactive" }

// ✅ — put display logic on the enum itself
enum class Status(val label: String) { ACTIVE("Active"), INACTIVE("Inactive") }

Sealed classes/interfaces over enum when variants carry different data.

---

5. Coroutines & Flow {#coroutines}

// ❌ Unnecessary async/await pair when result is used immediately
val result = async { fetchData() }.await()

// ✅
val result = fetchData() // just suspend fun, no async needed

// ❌ Collecting in a loop
while (true) {
    val value = channel.receive()
    process(value)
}

// ✅
channel.consumeEach { process(it) }
// or for Flow:
flow.collect { process(it) }

// ❌ StateFlow + manual emit boilerplate
private val _state = MutableStateFlow(initial)
val state: StateFlow<State> = _state
// ... in many places: _state.value = newValue

// ✅ — use update{} for atomic mutation
_state.update { it.copy(field = newValue) }

Don't launch coroutines in constructors or init blocks. Don't use GlobalScope.

---

6. Compose UI {#compose}

// ❌ Unnecessary remember for derived state that's cheap to compute
val displayName = remember { user.firstName + " " + user.lastName }

// ✅ — only remember if computation is expensive or involves object creation
val displayName = "${user.firstName} ${user.lastName}"

// ❌ Passing entire state object when composable only needs one field
@Composable
fun UserBadge(user: User) { Text(user.name) }

// ✅ — pass only what's needed (stability + minimal recomposition)
@Composable
fun UserBadge(name: String) { Text(name) }

// ❌ Inline click handler lambda (creates new instance each recomposition)
Button(onClick = { viewModel.onSave() }) { ... }

// ✅
val onSave = remember { { viewModel.onSave() } }
Button(onClick = onSave) { ... }
// Or pass it down as a parameter already

// ❌ Nested Column/Row just to group children
Column {
    Column {
        Text("a")
        Text("b")
    }
}

// ✅
Column {
    Text("a")
    Text("b")
}

Use LazyColumn/LazyRow for lists of unknown or large size. Never put a LazyColumn inside a Column with unbounded height.

---

7. Anti-patterns specific to Kotlin {#antipatterns}

Anti-pattern	Preferred
if (x == true)	if (x)
if (x == null) return else x!!	val x = x ?: return
listOf().toMutableList() for a known-size list	mutableListOf()
when with a single branch and else	if/else
.toString() on a string	remove it
Explicit Unit return type on functions	omit (inferred)
object : Runnable { override fun run() { ... } }	Runnable { ... } (SAM)
@JvmStatic in pure Kotlin code	only needed for Java interop
Wrapping every function in try/catch to log	handle at the boundary, not inside

Limitations

• These are language-specific guidelines and do not cover overall architectural decisions.
• Over-compression might reduce readability; apply judgement.