Android Without Java?

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Sparked by our recent article on using Kotlin with Android and my own experiments for a future article on using GoLang with Android I have had conversations this week with Android developers about moving on from Java.

Google's own relationship with Oracle, the current owners of Java has been nothing but negative and highly public and with many Android developers complaining about the language and its Android implementation, there is motivation on all sides for looking at alternatives.

Apple has managed to move iOS from Objective-C to Swift, and whilst not complete, it has been a reasonably smooth process. Of course, for Apple, owning their entire ecosystem helps a great deal, but it proves that if you give developers what they wanted, they will switch.

I'd love to know your thoughts, is it time for Android to move on to better languages? If so, which options are most mature and suitable in your opinion?

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Why not implements Swift for Android, it is open source now. It will simplify portability and open new markets to developers.

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I read a blog post where someone tried this, it was a crazy hack but worked.

I don’t think Swift is open source yet, but it will be soon and Apple are working on a Linux compiler, so in theory, it could be possible. Is this good business sense for Apple or not?

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Apple do not have a good reputation for contributing to the Android community. I don’t think this is a likely scenario

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I think it caused any damage to Android is Java, but that was more than a feature.

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