Which statement best describes the performance implications of using inline classes in Kotlin?
Android interview question for Advanced practice.
Answer
Inline classes generally have minimal runtime overhead and may improve performance by avoiding boxing/unboxing.
Explanation
Inline classes aim to minimize runtime overhead. The compiler often replaces inline class instances with their underlying values, reducing boxing and unboxing operations that can negatively impact performance. The impact on code size is variable and depends on compiler optimizations, but generally, the increase isn't significant. Memory usage is also generally similar to a regular class since the inline class value often directly replaces the class instance.