JetBrains’ Jetpack Compose for Desktop Brings Declarative UI Design to Kotlin, Inspired by Google’s Jetpack Compose for Android
JetBrains has announced the release of its first milestone version of Jetpack Compose for Desktop, expanding the declarative UI capabilities of Kotlin beyond Android. This new framework is modeled after Google’s Jetpack Compose toolkit for Android, but tailored for desktop application development.
Jetpack Compose for Desktop offers a declarative and reactive approach to building user interfaces, leveraging composable functions to simplify UI design. This methodology is similar to other modern frameworks like React and Flutter, aiming to streamline the creation of user interfaces by handling state management and visual updates efficiently.
Developers familiar with Jetpack Compose for Android will find the API for Jetpack Compose for Desktop to be quite similar, featuring a consistent set of UI elements and modifiers. This continuity allows for a smoother transition and code sharing between Android and desktop applications. With just a few lines of code, developers can create stateful user interfaces and utilize a comprehensive library of Material Design components to enhance their UIs.
To maintain compatibility and ensure future coherence, Jetpack Compose for Desktop is developed in close collaboration with the Google Jetpack Compose project. This collaboration enables developers to reuse substantial portions of their UI code across both desktop and mobile platforms. The desktop version introduces specific APIs to handle unique desktop interactions, such as mouse events, window management, and system tray icons, further integrating with existing Java technologies like Swing and AWT.
The milestone release, dated November 5, includes a Getting Started tutorial to help developers get acquainted with the new framework. It also integrates with the Skia graphics library, which supports low-level rendering and gives developers fine-grained control over how their application’s graphics are rendered. This combination of features positions Jetpack Compose for Desktop as a powerful tool for Kotlin developers looking to build modern, responsive desktop applications.