Look, no UI!

Many programs don't require a sophisticated UI.

This project provides a super simple Kotlin console API -- and simple console- and compose-based implementations for Web, Android, iOS and desktop/JVM.

open class Konsole {
    open fun println(message: Any? = "")
    open fun readln(label: String? = null, callback: (String) -> Unit)
    suspend fun readln(label: String? = null): String  // Implemented based on the callback variant
}

The goal is to make it super easy to write simple Kotlin programs that run on all platforms and look "ok" utilizing a chat-like appearance.

Of course a console API is not the "right" interface for everything, but it might be a good starting point to test out an idea or to demonstrate a programming concept without investing heavily into UI development. And there are modern applications using this kind of dialog interface, for instance assistant plugins or chat bots.

Rock Paper Scissors Demo

Web demo: https://kobjects.org/konsole

Demo application source code: demo/src/commonMain/kotlin/org/kobjects/konsole/demo/RockPaperScissors.kt

Compose application source code: commonMain/kotlin/App.kt

Gradle Targets for Running the Demo

:composeApp:run -- run the "Desktop" demo as a compose GUI app

-q --console=plain :demo:jvmRun -- run the JVM command line demo

:composeApp:wasmJsBrowserDevelopmentRun -- run the compose browser demo

Other Examples

• BASIK

FAQ

How do I change the color / formatting?

Ansi control sequences for changing the text color are supported.

I want to depend on Konsole only in my in demo, not in my library!

If console IO is part of your library and you don't want to depend on Konsole, just use generic print and readln functions that can be easily wired up to Konsole in your web demo.

Platform Specific Issues

Android

• Add android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize" to the Activity-Element in AndroidManifest.xml in order to ensure that the console history remains visible during input.