Kotlin Academy · Lesson

Channel Basics: send, receive, and close

Create channels, send and receive values, and close them properly.

Lesson 1 of 413 steps

Channel Basics: send, receive, and close is a free Kotlin Academy lesson on CoddyKit. This is lesson 1 of 4. Any 3 lessons of this learning path are free to read in full — after that, CoddyKit PRO unlocks every lesson, plus hands-on practice with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Kotlin Academy learning path, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app. The Kotlin Academy course includes 4 lessons in total.

What Is a Channel?

A Channel is a coroutine primitive for communicating between coroutines — like a blocking queue but suspending. Think of it as a pipe: one side sends, the other receives.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val channel = Channel<Int>()
    launch {
        for (i in 1..5) channel.send(i)
        channel.close()
    }
    for (x in channel) println(x) // 1 2 3 4 5
}

send and receive

send(value) suspends until the receiver is ready. receive() suspends until a value is available.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val ch = Channel<String>()
    launch {
        ch.send("ping")
        println("sent")
    }
    val msg = ch.receive()
    println("received: $msg")
}

Closing a Channel

channel.close() signals that no more values will be sent. Receivers get remaining buffered values, then the for-loop ends.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val ch = Channel<Int>(3)
    launch {
        repeat(3) { ch.send(it) }
        ch.close()  // signal done
    }
    for (v in ch) println(v) // 0 1 2, then loop ends
    println("Channel consumed")
}

isClosedForSend / isClosedForReceive

Check channel state with isClosedForSend (no more sends allowed) and isClosedForReceive (all values consumed).

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val ch = Channel<Int>()
    launch {
        ch.send(1)
        ch.close()
    }
    println(ch.receive())
    println("isClosedForReceive: ${ch.isClosedForReceive}")
}

produce Builder

produce { } is a coroutine builder that creates a producer coroutine and returns a ReceiveChannel. The channel closes automatically when the block ends.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun CoroutineScope.squares(n: Int) = produce<Int> {
    for (i in 1..n) send(i * i)
}
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val sq = squares(5)
    for (v in sq) println(v) // 1 4 9 16 25
}

consumeEach Extension

consumeEach { } iterates a channel and cancels it when the block throws, preventing leaks.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val ch = produce<String> {
        send("a"); send("b"); send("c")
    }
    ch.consumeEach { println(it) }
}

tryReceive and trySend

Non-suspending alternatives: trySend / tryReceive return a ChannelResult immediately without suspending.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val ch = Channel<Int>(1)
    val sendResult = ch.trySend(42)
    println("Sent: ${sendResult.isSuccess}")
    val recvResult = ch.tryReceive()
    println("Got: ${recvResult.getOrNull()}")
}

Fan-Out: Multiple Consumers

Multiple coroutines can receive from the same channel, distributing work — a fan-out pattern.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val tasks = produce { repeat(6) { send(it) } }
    repeat(3) { worker ->
        launch {
            for (task in tasks) {
                println("Worker $worker: task $task")
            }
        }
    }
}

Fan-In: Multiple Producers

Multiple coroutines can send to the same channel, merging their outputs — a fan-in pattern.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val results = Channel<String>()
    repeat(3) { i ->
        launch { results.send("result-$i") }
    }
    launch {
        repeat(3) { println(results.receive()) }
        results.close()
    }
}

Pipeline Pattern

Chain channels into a pipeline where each stage reads from one channel and writes to another — great for data processing workflows.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
fun CoroutineScope.numbers() = produce { for (i in 1..5) send(i) }
fun CoroutineScope.doubled(input: ReceiveChannel<Int>) = produce { for (v in input) send(v * 2) }
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val nums = numbers()
    val doubled = doubled(nums)
    for (v in doubled) println(v) // 2 4 6 8 10
    coroutineContext.cancelChildren()
}

Channel vs Flow

Channels are hot and stateful — they exist independently of consumption. Flows are cold and declarative — they restart on each collection. Prefer Flow for data streams; use Channel for producer-consumer communication.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
// Flow (cold): each collect() re-runs the block
// Channel (hot): shared; multiple receivers share the same stream
fun main() = runBlocking { println("Flow = cold; Channel = hot") }

Quick Check

What happens when you call channel.close()?

Answer it in the interactive lesson

Recap

send and receive suspend until the other side is ready. close() signals completion. Use produce for self-closing producers, consumeEach for safe iteration, and channels for fan-out/fan-in patterns.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the “Channel Basics: send, receive, and close” lesson free?

Yes — any 3 lessons of the Kotlin Academy learning path, including “Channel Basics: send, receive, and close”, are free to read in full here on the web. After that, CoddyKit PRO unlocks every lesson, plus interactive practice with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. The Kotlin Academy course includes 4 lessons in total.

What will I learn in “Channel Basics: send, receive, and close”?

Create channels, send and receive values, and close them properly. You practise Kotlin Academy with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.

Do I need any experience to start Kotlin Academy?

No prior experience is required. Kotlin Academy on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace. This is lesson 1 of 4.

How long does the “Channel Basics: send, receive, and close” lesson take?

Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.

Can I write and run code in this Kotlin Academy lesson?

Yes. Every Kotlin Academy lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.

All lessons in this course

Channel Basics: send, receive, and close
Channel Types: Rendezvous, Buffered, Conflated, Unlimited
Mutex and Semaphore for Shared State
Actors and Structured State Management

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