[LANG-1538] Implement the functions of the Utils classes as Kotlin extension functions.

• Type: New Feature
• Status: Open
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Component/s: lang.*
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Isira Seneviratne
• Created: 19/Apr/20 05:45
• Updated: 20/Apr/20 03:15

Description

This would provide the following advantages:

Conciseness - Kotlin code is overall much more concise than Java code. For instance, the following method in BooleanUtils:

public static Boolean negate(final Boolean bool) {
    if (bool == null) {
        return null;
    }
    return bool.booleanValue() ? Boolean.FALSE : Boolean.TRUE;
}

can be represented as a single line in Kotlin:

fun Boolean?.negate() = this?.not()

Compatibility with Java - Kotlin extension functions are compiled as static methods in Java bytecode, so existing code that makes use of Apache Commons Lang will not be affected by the conversion.

Kotlin support - Extension functions can be called in Kotlin code as if they were part of the original class declaration. For instance, the above method can be called as follows:

val bool: Boolean? = null
bool.negate() // returns null

Issue Links

• links to: GitHub Pull Request #520