@karelpeeters do you agree that by default the var/val in a kotlin class is public?

Yes. The backing JVM field, however, is not.

I agree but this has nothing to with the java interop my question is strictly about the kotlin design choice

Even in Kotlin, the backing property is not public. For example,

foo.bar = 5

is compiled down to

foo.setBar(5)

. Notice how you're not actually using a public property? Trying to call Kotlin from Java just makes this distinction clear.

Aaah makses sense so even though the property is public, you are only accessing it via the implied getters and setters correct?

That's right.

Awesome... thanks for clearing it @karelpeeters I appreciate the help 😄

The backing JVM property isn't actually public of course, as that would indeed break encapsulation.