The Kotlin standard library contains several functions whose sole purpose is to execute a block of code within the context of an object. When you call such a function on an object with a lambda expression provided, it forms a temporary scope. In this scope, you can access the object without its name. Such functions are called scope functions. There are five of them: let
, run
, with
, apply
, and also
.
Basically, these functions all perform the same action: execute a block of code on an object. What's different is how this object becomes available inside the block and what the result of the whole expression is.
Here's a typical example of how to use a scope function:
data class Person(var name: String, var age: Int, var city: String) { fun moveTo(newCity: String) { city = newCity } fun incrementAge() { age++ } } fun main() { //sampleStart Person("Alice", 20, "Amsterdam").let { println(it) it.moveTo("London") it.incrementAge() println(it) } //sampleEnd }
If you write the same without let
, you'll have to introduce a new variable and repeat its name whenever you use it.
data class Person(var name: String, var age: Int, var city: String) { fun moveTo(newCity: String) { city = newCity } fun incrementAge() { age++ } } fun main() { //sampleStart val alice = Person("Alice", 20, "Amsterdam") println(alice) alice.moveTo("London") alice.incrementAge() println(alice) //sampleEnd }
Scope functions don't introduce any new technical capabilities, but they can make your code more concise and readable.
Due to the many similarities between scope functions, choosing the right one for your use case can be tricky. The choice mainly depends on your intent and the consistency of use in your project. Below, we provide detailed descriptions of the differences between scope functions and their conventions.
Function selectionTo help you choose the right scope function for your purpose, we provide this table that summarizes the key differences between them.
Function
Object reference
Return value
Is extension function
it
Lambda result
Yes
this
Lambda result
Yes
-
Lambda result
No: called without the context object
this
Lambda result
No: takes the context object as an argument.
this
Context object
Yes
it
Context object
Yes
Detailed information about these functions is provided in the dedicated sections below.
Here is a short guide for choosing scope functions depending on the intended purpose:
Executing a lambda on non-nullable objects: let
Introducing an expression as a variable in local scope: let
Object configuration: apply
Object configuration and computing the result: run
Running statements where an expression is required: non-extension run
Additional effects: also
Grouping function calls on an object: with
The use cases of different scope functions overlap, so you can choose which functions to use based on the specific conventions used in your project or team.
Although scope functions can make your code more concise, avoid overusing them: it can make your code hard to read and lead to errors. We also recommend that you avoid nesting scope functions and be careful when chaining them because it's easy to get confused about the current context object and value of this
or it
.
Because scope functions are similar in nature, it's important to understand the differences between them. There are two main differences between each scope function:
The way they refer to the context object.
Their return value.
Inside the lambda passed to a scope function, the context object is available by a short reference instead of its actual name. Each scope function uses one of two ways to reference the context object: as a lambda receiver (this
) or as a lambda argument (it
). Both provide the same capabilities, so we describe the pros and cons of each for different use cases and provide recommendations for their use.
fun main() { val str = "Hello" // this str.run { println("The string's length: $length") //println("The string's length: ${this.length}") // does the same } // it str.let { println("The string's length is ${it.length}") } }
thisrun
, with
, and apply
reference the context object as a lambda receiver - by keyword this
. Hence, in their lambdas, the object is available as it would be in ordinary class functions.
In most cases, you can omit this
when accessing the members of the receiver object, making the code shorter. On the other hand, if this
is omitted, it can be hard to distinguish between the receiver members and external objects or functions. So having the context object as a receiver (this
) is recommended for lambdas that mainly operate on the object's members by calling its functions or assigning values to properties.
data class Person(var name: String, var age: Int = 0, var city: String = "") fun main() { //sampleStart val adam = Person("Adam").apply { age = 20 // same as this.age = 20 city = "London" } println(adam) //sampleEnd }
itIn turn, let
and also
reference the context object as a lambda argument. If the argument name is not specified, the object is accessed by the implicit default name it
. it
is shorter than this
and expressions with it
are usually easier to read.
However, when calling the object's functions or properties, you don't have the object available implicitly like this
. Hence, accessing the context object via it
is better when the object is mostly used as an argument in function calls. it
is also better if you use multiple variables in the code block.
import kotlin.random.Random fun writeToLog(message: String) { println("INFO: $message") } fun main() { //sampleStart fun getRandomInt(): Int { return Random.nextInt(100).also { writeToLog("getRandomInt() generated value $it") } } val i = getRandomInt() println(i) //sampleEnd }
The example below demonstrates referencing the context object as a lambda argument with argument name: value
.
import kotlin.random.Random fun writeToLog(message: String) { println("INFO: $message") } fun main() { //sampleStart fun getRandomInt(): Int { return Random.nextInt(100).also { value -> writeToLog("getRandomInt() generated value $value") } } val i = getRandomInt() println(i) //sampleEnd }
Return valueScope functions differ by the result they return:
apply
and also
return the context object.
let
, run
, and with
return the lambda result.
You should consider carefully what return value you want based on what you want to do next in your code. This helps you to choose the best scope function to use.
Context objectThe return value of apply
and also
is the context object itself. Hence, they can be included into call chains as side steps: you can continue chaining function calls on the same object, one after another.
fun main() { //sampleStart val numberList = mutableListOf<Double>() numberList.also { println("Populating the list") } .apply { add(2.71) add(3.14) add(1.0) } .also { println("Sorting the list") } .sort() //sampleEnd println(numberList) }
They also can be used in return statements of functions returning the context object.
import kotlin.random.Random fun writeToLog(message: String) { println("INFO: $message") } fun main() { //sampleStart fun getRandomInt(): Int { return Random.nextInt(100).also { writeToLog("getRandomInt() generated value $it") } } val i = getRandomInt() //sampleEnd }
Lambda resultlet
, run
, and with
return the lambda result. So you can use them when assigning the result to a variable, chaining operations on the result, and so on.
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = mutableListOf("one", "two", "three") val countEndsWithE = numbers.run { add("four") add("five") count { it.endsWith("e") } } println("There are $countEndsWithE elements that end with e.") //sampleEnd }
Additionally, you can ignore the return value and use a scope function to create a temporary scope for local variables.
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = mutableListOf("one", "two", "three") with(numbers) { val firstItem = first() val lastItem = last() println("First item: $firstItem, last item: $lastItem") } //sampleEnd }
FunctionsTo help you choose the right scope function for your use case, we describe them in detail and provide recommendations for use. Technically, scope functions are interchangeable in many cases, so the examples show conventions for using them.
letThe context object is available as an argument (it
).
The return value is the lambda result.
let
can be used to invoke one or more functions on results of call chains. For example, the following code prints the results of two operations on a collection:
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = mutableListOf("one", "two", "three", "four", "five") val resultList = numbers.map { it.length }.filter { it > 3 } println(resultList) //sampleEnd }
With let
, you can rewrite the above example so that you're not assigning the result of the list operations to a variable:
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = mutableListOf("one", "two", "three", "four", "five") numbers.map { it.length }.filter { it > 3 }.let { println(it) // and more function calls if needed } //sampleEnd }
If the code block passed to let
contains a single function with it
as an argument, you can use the method reference (::
) instead of the lambda argument:
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = mutableListOf("one", "two", "three", "four", "five") numbers.map { it.length }.filter { it > 3 }.let(::println) //sampleEnd }
let
is often used to execute a code block containing non-null values. To perform actions on a non-null object, use the safe call operator ?.
on it and call let
with the actions in its lambda.
fun processNonNullString(str: String) {} fun main() { //sampleStart val str: String? = "Hello" //processNonNullString(str) // compilation error: str can be null val length = str?.let { println("let() called on $it") processNonNullString(it) // OK: 'it' is not null inside '?.let { }' it.length } //sampleEnd }
You can also use let
to introduce local variables with a limited scope to make your code easier to read. To define a new variable for the context object, provide its name as the lambda argument so that it can be used instead of the default it
.
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = listOf("one", "two", "three", "four") val modifiedFirstItem = numbers.first().let { firstItem -> println("The first item of the list is '$firstItem'") if (firstItem.length >= 5) firstItem else "!" + firstItem + "!" }.uppercase() println("First item after modifications: '$modifiedFirstItem'") //sampleEnd }
withThe context object is available as a receiver (this
).
The return value is the lambda result.
As with
is not an extension function: the context object is passed as an argument, but inside the lambda, it's available as a receiver (this
).
We recommend using with
for calling functions on the context object when you don't need to use the returned result. In code, with
can be read as " with this object, do the following. "
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = mutableListOf("one", "two", "three") with(numbers) { println("'with' is called with argument $this") println("It contains $size elements") } //sampleEnd }
You can also use with
to introduce a helper object whose properties or functions are used for calculating a value.
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = mutableListOf("one", "two", "three") val firstAndLast = with(numbers) { "The first element is ${first()}," + " the last element is ${last()}" } println(firstAndLast) //sampleEnd }
runThe context object is available as a receiver (this
).
The return value is the lambda result.
run
does the same as with
but it is implemented as an extension function. So like let
, you can call it on the context object using dot notation.
run
is useful when your lambda both initializes objects and computes the return value.
class MultiportService(var url: String, var port: Int) { fun prepareRequest(): String = "Default request" fun query(request: String): String = "Result for query '$request'" } fun main() { //sampleStart val service = MultiportService("https://example.kotlinlang.org", 80) val result = service.run { port = 8080 query(prepareRequest() + " to port $port") } // the same code written with let() function: val letResult = service.let { it.port = 8080 it.query(it.prepareRequest() + " to port ${it.port}") } //sampleEnd println(result) println(letResult) }
You can also invoke run
as a non-extension function. The non-extension variant of run
has no context object, but it still returns the lambda result. Non-extension run
lets you execute a block of several statements where an expression is required. In code, non-extension run
can be read as " run the code block and compute the result. "
fun main() { //sampleStart val hexNumberRegex = run { val digits = "0-9" val hexDigits = "A-Fa-f" val sign = "+-" Regex("[$sign]?[$digits$hexDigits]+") } for (match in hexNumberRegex.findAll("+123 -FFFF !%*& 88 XYZ")) { println(match.value) } //sampleEnd }
applyThe context object is available as a receiver (this
).
The return value is the object itself.
As apply
returns the context object itself, we recommend that you use it for code blocks that don't return a value and that mainly operate on the members of the receiver object. The most common use case for apply
is for object configuration. Such calls can be read as " apply the following assignments to the object. "
data class Person(var name: String, var age: Int = 0, var city: String = "") fun main() { //sampleStart val adam = Person("Adam").apply { age = 32 city = "London" } println(adam) //sampleEnd }
Another use case for apply
is to include apply
in multiple call chains for more complex processing.
The context object is available as an argument (it
).
The return value is the object itself.
also
is useful for performing some actions that take the context object as an argument. Use also
for actions that need a reference to the object rather than its properties and functions, or when you don't want to shadow the this
reference from an outer scope.
When you see also
in code, you can read it as " and also do the following with the object. "
fun main() { //sampleStart val numbers = mutableListOf("one", "two", "three") numbers .also { println("The list elements before adding new one: $it") } .add("four") //sampleEnd }
takeIf and takeUnlessIn addition to scope functions, the standard library contains the functions takeIf
and takeUnless
. These functions let you embed checks of an object's state in call chains.
When called on an object along with a predicate, takeIf
returns this object if it satisfies the given predicate. Otherwise, it returns null
. So, takeIf
is a filtering function for a single object.
takeUnless
has the opposite logic of takeIf
. When called on an object along with a predicate, takeUnless
returns null
if it satisfies the given predicate. Otherwise, it returns the object.
When using takeIf
or takeUnless
, the object is available as a lambda argument (it
).
import kotlin.random.* fun main() { //sampleStart val number = Random.nextInt(100) val evenOrNull = number.takeIf { it % 2 == 0 } val oddOrNull = number.takeUnless { it % 2 == 0 } println("even: $evenOrNull, odd: $oddOrNull") //sampleEnd }
When chaining other functions after takeIf
and takeUnless
, don't forget to perform a null check or use a safe call (?.
) because their return value is nullable.
fun main() { //sampleStart val str = "Hello" val caps = str.takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() }?.uppercase() //val caps = str.takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() }.uppercase() //compilation error println(caps) //sampleEnd }
takeIf
and takeUnless
are especially useful in combination with scope functions. For example, you can chain takeIf
and takeUnless
with let
to run a code block on objects that match the given predicate. To do this, call takeIf
on the object and then call let
with a safe call (?
). For objects that don't match the predicate, takeIf
returns null
and let
isn't invoked.
fun main() { //sampleStart fun displaySubstringPosition(input: String, sub: String) { input.indexOf(sub).takeIf { it >= 0 }?.let { println("The substring $sub is found in $input.") println("Its start position is $it.") } } displaySubstringPosition("010000011", "11") displaySubstringPosition("010000011", "12") //sampleEnd }
For comparison, below is an example of how the same function can be written without using takeIf
or scope functions:
fun main() { //sampleStart fun displaySubstringPosition(input: String, sub: String) { val index = input.indexOf(sub) if (index >= 0) { println("The substring $sub is found in $input.") println("Its start position is $index.") } } displaySubstringPosition("010000011", "11") displaySubstringPosition("010000011", "12") //sampleEnd }
Last modified: 25 September 2024
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