Installing IntelliJ IDEA

IntelliJ IDEA is an integrated development environment (IDE) for Kotlin created by JetBrains (which also created the Kotlin language). To get started, download the IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition from the JetBrains website at jetbrains.com/​idea/​download (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1  Downloading IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition

Downloading IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition

Once it has downloaded, follow the installation instructions for your platform as described on the JetBrains installation and setup page at jetbrains.com/​help/​idea/​install-and-set-up-product.html.

IntelliJ IDEA, called IntelliJ for short, helps you write well-formed Kotlin code. It also streamlines the development process with built-in tools for running, debugging, inspecting, and refactoring your code. You can read more about why we recommend IntelliJ for writing Kotlin code in the section called For the More Curious: Why Use IntelliJ? near the end of this chapter.