get() and [] Syntax

Earlier, we explored [] syntax for accessing elements in a List, where [] would wrap a 0-based index of the item in the list to retrieve.

We also explored using [] for accessing entries in a Map, where [] would wrap the key for which we want to try to retrieve a value.

In reality, [] syntax is available for anything that offers a one-parameter get() function. When Kotlin encounters [] syntax, it simply replaces that with the corresponding get() call.

So, for example, we also saw using [] syntax to get the Nth character from a String. String has a get() function, that takes a 0-based index and returns that character from the string. When we used [] syntax (it[1] == 'o'), Kotlin called get() on the String, passing in our index.