i have a class in a lib whose constructor is marke...

# getting-started

[bbaldino]

i have a class in a lib whose constructor is marked as internal, but when i include that lib (via a maven dependency) in a java project, i can still access that constructor. am i misunderstanding the scope of internal?

[Mike]

Hmmm. Java doesn't 'understand' internal. For methods, I believe the Kotlin compiler creates the method with a mangled name, so you'd have to look at bytecode to see it. And Kotlin knows about internal, so will treat it properly.

I guess it doesn't 'work' for constructors as you can't change its name.

[bbaldino]

hmm, darn. so this is no-package-private-in-kotlin strikes again i guess.

[Mike]

You could make the constructor private, and have an invoke function in the Companion that is internal.

Code looks same in Kotlin, and Java won't find it.

package-private has it's own issues, so I'm in agreement with Jetbrain's decision not to add it, but that's another conversation.

[bbaldino]

good idea, i'll try it with invoke and see how that goes

[Mike]

Let me know if it works. It's just a guess right now.

[Mike]

All depends on what the compiler actually does with the invoke behind the scenes, and I've never looked.

[bbaldino]

looks like that works

[bbaldino]

trying to call the companion invoke from java errors with "usage of kotlin internal declaration from different module"

[Mike]

Given that, I'd raise a bug on the internal constructor to let them know. And at least you have a reasonable workaround.

[bbaldino]

👍