Using Kotlin class in Java: Cannot find symbol

Question

I have found this similar question regarding Android, but I am using plain Java with Maven as build tool. I think it is better to post a new question.

I have created a Kotlin class to which I am trying to refer from Java class as MyKotlinClass.class. The Maven build fails, whereas compilation in IntelliJ Idea works fine. I have already added Kotlin plugin to maven:

        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <artifactId>kotlin-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <id>compile</id>
                    <phase>compile</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>compile</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
                <execution>
                    <id>test-compile</id>
                    <phase>test-compile</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>test-compile</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>

However that does not help:

[ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:2.3.2:compile (default-compile) on project app: Compilation failure
[ERROR] MyClassLinkingKotlin.java:[100,40] error: cannot find symbol

The line/column exactly refers to symbol MyKotlinClass.class. It will fail even when using like this:

System.err.println(MyKotlinClass.class)

Answer 1

Your Maven configuration adds the Kotlin compiler plugin, but doesn't adjust the Java compiler plugin execution so that the Java compiler runs after the Kotlin compiler. Therefore, the Java compiler runs before Kotlin, and doesn't see Kotlin-compiled classes.

Here's a snippet showing the correct configuration for a mixed-language project (taken from the documentation):

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <artifactId>kotlin-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>
            <version>${kotlin.version}</version>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <id>compile</id>
                    <goals> <goal>compile</goal> </goals>
                    <configuration>
                        <sourceDirs>
                            <sourceDir>${project.basedir}/src/main/kotlin</sourceDir>
                            <sourceDir>${project.basedir}/src/main/java</sourceDir>
                        </sourceDirs>
                    </configuration>
                </execution>
                <execution>
                    <id>test-compile</id>
                    <goals> <goal>test-compile</goal> </goals>
                    <configuration>
                        <sourceDirs>
                            <sourceDir>${project.basedir}/src/test/kotlin</sourceDir>
                            <sourceDir>${project.basedir}/src/test/java</sourceDir>
                        </sourceDirs>
                    </configuration>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>3.5.1</version>
            <executions>
                <!-- Replacing default-compile as it is treated specially by maven -->
                <execution>
                    <id>default-compile</id>
                    <phase>none</phase>
                </execution>
                <!-- Replacing default-testCompile as it is treated specially by maven -->
                <execution>
                    <id>default-testCompile</id>
                    <phase>none</phase>
                </execution>
                <execution>
                    <id>java-compile</id>
                    <phase>compile</phase>
                    <goals> <goal>compile</goal> </goals>
                </execution>
                <execution>
                    <id>java-test-compile</id>
                    <phase>test-compile</phase>
                    <goals> <goal>testCompile</goal> </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>