Scope Functions

The Kotlin standard library contains several functions whose sole purpose is to execute a
block of code within the context of an object.

When one calls any of these scoped functions on an object with an expression, it forms a temporary scope where this object can be accessed with it or this, without its original name.

There are five scope functions: let, also, run, with and apply.

Context Object: it vs this

The functions run, with and apply refer to the context object as a lambda receiver by this keyword.

The functions let and also refer to the context object as a lambda argument, and if not specified the object is accessed by its implicit default name it.

Return Type

The scope functions differ by the result they return:

• apply and also return the context object.
• let, run, and with return the lambda result.

Table of Differences

| Function | Object Reference | Return Value | Is Extension Function | |—|—|—|—| |let| it| Lambda result| Yes| |run| this| Lambda result| Yes| |run| -| Lambda result| No: called without the context object| |with| this| Lambda result| No: takes the context object as an argument.| |apply| this| Context object| Yes| |also| it| Context object| Yes|

let

The scope function let can be used to invoke one or more functions on results of call chains. For eg:

 val numbers = listOf(1, 2, 3, 4)
 numbers.filter { it > 2 }.let { println(it.size) }

It is used in the following cases:

• Executing a code block only with non-null values. For eg:

  val nullableString: String? = "Not null"
  nullableString?.let { println(it.length) }
  

• Introducing local variables with a limited scope for improving code readability. For eg:

  val numbers = listOf(1, 2, 3, 4)
  numbers.filter { it > 1 }.let {
      val header = "Header"
      val footer = "Footer"
      val separator = "******"
      println("$header")
      println("$separator")
      it.forEach { println("$it\n$separator") }
      println("$footer")
  }
  

also

The scope function also can be used to side effect in a call chain without breaking it. It can be simply read as “and also do the following”.

• For eg:

  api.get()
     .also{Log.debug(it)}
     .map{*/ someother stuff /*}
  

run

It can be used when the lambda contains both the object initialization and the computation of the return value. -For eg:

  val result = service.run {
    port = 8080
    query(prepareRequest() + " to port $port")
}

with

The function with can be used to logically group calls on an object. It can be read as “with this object, do the following”.

• For eg:

  with(message) {
    init("www.message-url.com")
    login(token)
    post("Hi there")
  }
  

apply

The scope function let can be used to initialize or configure an object. It can be simply read as “apply the following assignments to the object”.

It is used in the following case:

• To initialize an object. For eg:

  val danial = Employee().apply{
    name = "Daniel"
    age = 25
    gender = "male"
  }
  

Mutation of Objects

The following example illustrates how objects are mutated from within scope functions:

fun main() {
    val person: Person? = Person("John", 30)

    val mutationLet = person?.let {
        ++it.age
    }

    println("\nMutation (let): $mutationLet\n")

    val mutationAlso = person?.also {
        ++it.age
    }

    println("\nMutation (also): $mutationAlso\n")

    val mutationRun = person?.run {
        ++age
    }

    println("\nMutation (run): $mutationRun\n")

    val mutationApply = person?.apply {
        ++age
    }

    println("\nMutation (apply): $mutationApply\n")

    person?.let { Person(it.name, ++it.age) }
        ?.let { println("Name: ${it.name}\nAge: ${it.age}\n") }

    println(person)
}

data class Person(var name: String, var age: Long)

Exercises