Kotlin: Member properties must be initialized

In kotlin, member properties either initialized (or) must be declared as abstract. Let’s see it by an example.

Employee.kt

class Employee {
 private var firstName: String
 private var lastName: String

 fun getFirstName(): String {
  return firstName
 }

 fun getLastName(): String {
  return lastName
 }

 fun setFirstName(firstName: String) {
  this.firstName = firstName
 }

 fun setLastName(lastName: String) {
  this.lastName = lastName
 }
}

Try to compile above program, you will end up with below error.

C:\>kotlinc Employee.kt
Employee.kt:2:2: error: property must be initialized or be abstract
        private var firstName: String
 ^
Employee.kt:3:2: error: property must be initialized or be abstract
        private var lastName: String

How to get rid of above error?

There are two ways, either initialize the property (or) make the property as abstract.

Way1: Initialize the properties firstName and lastName

Employee.kt

class Employee {
 private var firstName: String = ""
 private var lastName: String = ""

 fun getFirstName(): String {
  return firstName
 }

 fun getLastName(): String {
  return lastName
 }

 fun setFirstName(firstName: String) {
  this.firstName = firstName
 }

 fun setLastName(lastName: String) {
  this.lastName = lastName
 }
}

Way 2: Make the properties as abstract

Employee.kt

abstract class Employee {
 abstract var firstName: String
 abstract var lastName: String
}

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