Kotlin's List missing "add", "remove", Map missing "put", etc?

Question

In Java we could do the following

public class TempClass {
    List<Integer> myList = null;
    void doSomething() {
        myList = new ArrayList<>();
        myList.add(10);
        myList.remove(10);
    }
}

But if we rewrite it to Kotlin directly as below

class TempClass {
    var myList: List<Int>? = null
    fun doSomething() {
        myList = ArrayList<Int>()
        myList!!.add(10)
        myList!!.remove(10)
    }
}

I got the error of not finding add and remove function from my List

I work around casting it to ArrayList, but that is odd needing to cast it, while in Java casting is not required. And that defeats the purpose of having the abstract class List

class TempClass {
    var myList: List<Int>? = null
    fun doSomething() {
        myList = ArrayList<Int>()
        (myList!! as ArrayList).add(10)
        (myList!! as ArrayList).remove(10)
    }
}

Is there a way for me to use List but not needing to cast it, like what could be done in Java?

Answer 1

Unlike many languages, Kotlin distinguishes between mutable and immutable collections (lists, sets, maps, etc). Precise control over exactly when collections can be edited is useful for eliminating bugs, and for designing good APIs.

https://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/collections.html

You'll need to use a MutableList list.

class TempClass {
    var myList: MutableList<Int> = mutableListOf<Int>()
    fun doSomething() {
        // myList = ArrayList<Int>() // initializer is redundant
        myList.add(10)
        myList.remove(10)
    }
}

MutableList<Int> = arrayListOf() should also work.