Cursor Rules for Kotlin: 6 Rules That Make AI Write Safe, Expressive Kotlin
The article discusses 6 rules for using Cursor or Claude Code to generate idiomatic, null-safe Kotlin code that takes advantage of Kotlin's features.
Why it matters
These rules can help developers who use AI-powered tools like Cursor or Claude Code to write more robust and maintainable Kotlin code.
Key Points
- 1Use sealed classes or sealed interfaces to model operation results with distinct success and failure states
- 2Never return null to represent failure
- 3Ensure every when-expression over a sealed type is exhaustive (no else branch)
- 4Avoid using GlobalScope for launching coroutines
- 5Prefer extension functions over static utility methods
- 6Use data classes for simple data transfer objects
Details
The article highlights common issues with AI-generated Kotlin code, such as the overuse of nullable types, lack of exhaustive checks in when-expressions, and improper use of coroutines. It then presents 6 rules to address these problems and generate Kotlin code that is more idiomatic, null-safe, and expressive. The rules cover topics like using sealed classes for domain results, avoiding GlobalScope for coroutines, and preferring extension functions over static utility methods. Each rule is accompanied by before and after code examples to illustrate the improvements.
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