To run examples from this book, you will need a computer running Windows, Linux, or Mac OS. You also need IntelliJ IDEA (Ultimate edition version is preferable) and Android Studio. You need basic knowledge of GitHub and Git to clone a project with examples.

Since Kotlin is an official language for Android development, Android Studio supports this language out of the box. For IntelliJ IDEA you need to install a plugin that is available for download from https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6954-kotlin.

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/MasteringHighPerformancewithKotlin_ColorImages.pdf.

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "To override finalize(), all you need to do is simply declare it without using the override keyword (and it can't be private)."

A block of code is set as follows:

class C {
   protected fun finalize() {
      // finalization logic
   }
}

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

computation
CacheThread 8
NetworkThread 8

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "The IntelliJ IDEA has a special function for this. Go to the CalculatorMachine class and open the Generate pane."