Kotlin Type Conversion

In Kotlin, a numeric value of one type is not automatically converted to another type even when the other type is larger. This is different from how Java handles numeric conversions. For example;

In Java,

int number1 = 55;
long number2 = number1;    // Valid code

Here, value of number1 of type int is automatically converted to type long, and assigned to variable number2.

In Kotlin,

val number1: Int = 559
val number2: Long = number1   // Error: type mismatch.

Though the size of Long is larger than Int, Kotlin doesn't automatically convert Int to Long.

Instead, you need to use toLong() explicitly (to convert to type Long). Kotlin does it for type safety to avoid surprises.

val number1: Int = 559
val number2: Long = number1.toLong()

Here's a list of functions in Kotlin used for type conversion:

Note, there is no conversion for Boolean types.

Conversion from Larger to Smaller Type

The functions mentioned above can be used in both directions (conversion from larger to smaller type and conversion from smaller to larger type).

However, conversion from larger to smaller type may truncate the value. For example,

fun main(args : Array<String>) {
    val num1: Int = 545344
    val num2: Byte = num1.toByte()
    println("num1 = $num1")
    println("num2 = $num2")
}

When you run the program, the output will be:

number1 = 985756
number2 = 64

Also check out these articles related to type conversion:

String to Int, and Int to String Conversion
Long to Int, and Int to Long Conversion
Double to Int, and Int to Double Conversion
Long to Double, and Double to Long Conversion
Char to Int, and Int to Char
String to Long, and Long to String Conversion
String to Array, and Array to String Conversion
String to Boolean, and Boolean to String Conversion
String to Byte, and Byte to String Conversion
Int to Byte, and Byte to Int Conversion