Kotlinnative

Kotlin/Native is a technology for compiling Kotlin code to native executables and libraries that run without a virtual machine. It is one track of Kotlin Multiplatform, designed to enable code sharing across platforms such as iOS, macOS, Linux, Windows, and embedded environments.

The Kotlin/Native compiler uses LLVM as its backend and produces standalone binaries that can interoperate with native APIs.

Developers create multiplatform projects with Gradle using the Kotlin Multiplatform plugin, define common code in a shared module, and provide platform-specific implementations with expect/actual declarations.

Shared code can run on native targets without a JVM, while platform code can call into native frameworks and libraries.

Interoperability with native ecosystems is a key feature. Kotlin/Native provides a cinterop tool to generate bindings from C headers, and on Apple platforms it offers Objective-C interop and the ability to expose Kotlin code as a framework to Swift/ObjC.

Libraries can be distributed as klibs for reuse from Kotlin/Native or as frameworks for Apple platforms.

The runtime is designed to work with native environments, offering predictable performance characteristics suitable for mobile and embedded use cases.

Limitations: reflection and some dynamic features are limited or unavailable; capturing and using platform-specific features may require writing expect/actual code or using native interop. The project is maintained by JetBrains together with the Kotlin community and evolves with the Kotlin language.