Which standard library to use in Kotlin

Question

When using the JVM with Kotlin, it appears that there are several options for the standard library, including kotlin-stdlib, kotlin-stdlib-jdk7, and kotlin-stdlib-jdk8.

However, I can't seem to discover anything that explains how these differ from one another. With kotlin-stdlib, I am unable to use the com.fasterxml.jackson.data-bind.etc.MismatchedInputException, however I can with kotlin-stdlib-jdk8.

Can somebody explain this to me in clear English or point out the benefits of using one over the others?

Answer 1

The -jdk8 option should be used when utilizing the JDK8 as its name suggests. It contains the code necessary to incorporate the JDK 8 updates into the Kotlin standard library.

As its name says, it is dependent on -jdk7, which has the necessary code to incorporate the JDK 7 changes into the Kotlin standard library.
Additionally, it depends on the stdlib, as seen by the pom of the -jdk7.

Use the one that matches your JDK, in other words. It will transitively add all the dependencies for earlier JDK versions when it is added to the list of dependents.