One Language to Rule Them All: How Kotlin Streamlines Web Development ?

Let’s start by asking you all a question — How much time did it take for you to make a production ready api ? What if I say you can create it in less than 10 mins. Read the complete article to know more :)

Yes you must have guessed it right. I’m talking about Ktor Framework. In this blog I’m going to show everything from creating a project till free deployment in Railway. You can create a api in less than 10 minutes. Without wasting time let’s start.

Create Ktor Framework. Head to https://start.ktor.io/ . Click on add Plugins.
I choose the following plugins. Don’t worry if you forget to add you can add it later too.

Generate Ktor Project.

Click Generate. Download .zip folder. Extract it & open it in IntelliJ Idea

Trust me your api is ready. You just need to add routes now !!!

Let’s see the project Structure -

Head over to Routing.kt file.

Now just type in Http Methods you know . Yes just type get/put/post/delete.For Eg Let’s see a simple get Example.

package com.example.plugins

import io.ktor.http.*
import io.ktor.server.routing.*
import io.ktor.server.response.*
import io.ktor.server.application.*
import io.ktor.server.html.*
import kotlinx.html.body

fun Application.configureRouting() {
    routing {
        get("/1"){
            call.respond("Api in less than 5 mins")
        }
   }
}

Done. You created your first Route. Add some more for fun :).

The Deployment Stage 😭

1. Go application.yaml/application.hocon file.
2. Paste the following code. This is for ktor to choose port from environment variables.

ktor:
    application:
        modules:
            - com.example.ApplicationKt.module
    deployment:
        port: "$PORT:8080"
        host:  0.0.0.0

3. Push everything to GitHub. And login to railway. Now Choose the repository you created for Ktor Framework.

4. In the Settings tab — Change build and deploy command.

Build — gradle clean buildFatJar

Deploy — gradle runFatJar

5. Boom. And Now check Deployments Section.

If you see something similar. Congrat’s your api is deployed.

Did it take more than 10 mins ? This is the beauty of Kotlin. One language that simplifies web-development.

Follow the following links for reference -

Source Code — https://github.com/thekaailashsharma/Ktor_Deployement

Deployed Website — https://ktordeployement-production-fdd3.up.railway.app/

Kotlin truly is the one language to rule them all when it comes to web development. Its versatility, simplicity, and power make it the perfect tool for creating robust and efficient web applications. So, if you’re a developer looking to streamline your web development process, Kotlin is definitely worth giving a shot.
Thank you !!