Kotlin: Initialize class attribute in constructor

Question

I create a Kotlin-class with a class attribute, which I want to initialize in the constructor:

public class TestClass {

    private var context : Context? = nul         


        

Answer 1

I had a similar problem where I didn't want to hold onto the object after construction. Using lazy or lateinit resulted in inefficient bytecode so after some research I settled on this approach and returned to post the answer in case it helps:

Solution

class TestClass(context: Context) {
    private val homeDescription: String

    init {
        homeDescription = context.getString(R.string.abc_action_bar_home_description)
    }

    fun doSomeVoodoo() {
        val text : String = homeDescription
    }
}

alternatively, the above can be further simplified into:

class TestClass(context: Context) {
    private val homeDescription: String = context.getString(R.string.abc_action_bar_home_description)

    fun doSomeVoodoo() {
        val text : String = homeDescription
    }
}

Decompiled Bytecode

And the decompiled java version of this feels a bit more acceptable than the other approaches and no reference to the context is held after construction:

public final class TestClass {
    private final String homeDescription;

    public final void doSomeVoodoo() {
        String text = this.homeDescription;
    }

    public TestClass(@NotNull Context context) {
        Intrinsics.checkParameterIsNotNull(context, "context");
        super();
        String var10001 = context.getString(2131296256);
        Intrinsics.checkExpressionValueIsNotNull(var10001, "context.getString(R.stri…ion_bar_home_description)");
        this.homeDescription = var10001;
    }
}