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Well, the null issues in Java libraries have always been there, I don't really think it's a fault of Kotlin and its tooling that those bugs are not caught at all by the compiler, as all object types in Java are Kotlin optionals if not annotated.

Maybe in time most of the necessary open source projects will be pure Kotlin ones, but for now I believe annotating Java code with null constraints is certainly a boon for everyone and should be encouraged.

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I agree that the tooling is getting better. Some of the popular libraries are still figuring out the right patterns to apply to make them more "Kotlin friendly". Tools like the Checker Framework [1], JSR 308 [2], and compiler plugins like Traute [3] can also help with the safety issues on the Java side. Kotlin is beginning to understand these more, and some of the basic annotations are supported, but the tooling is only going to improve with all of the backing that Kotlin currently has.

[1]: https://checkerframework.org/

[2]: https://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=308

[3]: https://github.com/denis-zhdanov/traute

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