Math extensions and operator overloads for LibGDX math API.

Java does not feature operator overloading, which leads to weird constructs like vector.add(a).sub(b). Kotlin brings the possibility to use a much more readable and natural syntax with its operators overloading: vector + a - b. However, LibGDX API does not match Kotlin naming conventions (necessary for operators to work), which means extension functions are necessary to make it work like that.

• vec2 is a global factory function that can create Vector2 instances with named parameters for extra readability.
• +, -, * and / can be used to add, subtract, multiply or divide current values according to the second vector.
• Unary - operator (a single minus before the vector) allows to negate both vector values.
• * and / can be used with floats and ints to multiply or divide both vector values.
• ++ and -- operators can be used to increment and decrement both x and y values of the vector. Note that since Vector2 class is mutable, both these operations modify the internal state of the vector. This means that both ++vector and vector++ are effectively the same, as previous state of the vector is not kept (to limit the amount of constructed objects).
• Vector2 instances can be destructed to two float variables in one step with val (x, y) = vector2 syntax thanks to component1() and component2() operator methods.
• Vector2 instances are now comparable - <, >, <=, >= operators can be used to determine which vector has greater (or equal) overall length. While this certainly does not fit all use cases, we consider it the most commonly compared value. It can be used to determine which vector is further from a certain common point (for example, which Box2D Body is further from the center of the World or which touch event is further from the Viewport center). It can be also used to quickly determine which velocity or force is greater. Note that length squared is actually compared, as it is much faster to calculate and yields the same results in most cases.

Note that since Shape2D has contains(Vector2) method, in operator can be used for any Shape2D implementation (like Rectangle, Ellipse or Circle). For example, given vec: Vector2 and rect: Rectangle variables, you can call vec in rect (or vec !in rect) to check if the rectangle contains (or doesn't) the point stored by the vector.

• vec3 is a global factory function that can create Vector3 instances with named parameters for extra readability.
• +, -, * and / can be used to add, subtract, multiply or divide current values according to the second vector.
• Unary - operator (a single minus before the vector) allows to negate all vector values.
• * and / can be used with floats and ints to multiply or divide all vector values.
• ++ and -- operators can be used to increment and decrement x, y and z values of the vector. Note that since Vector3 class is mutable, both these operations modify the internal state of the vector. This means that both ++vector and vector++ are effectively the same, as previous state of the vector is not kept (to limit the amount of constructed objects).
• Vector3 instances can be destructed to tree float variables in one step with val (x, y, z) = vector3 syntax thanks to component1(), component2() and component3 operator methods.
• Vector3 instances are now comparable - <, >, <=, >= operators can be used to determine which vector has greater (or equal) overall length, similarly to how Vector2 now works.

• mat3 is a human-readable global factory function that allows to easily create Matrix3 instances.
• Unary - operator (a single minus before the matrix) can be used to negate all matrix values.
• ! operator before the matrix inverts it, calling inv().
• + and - can be used to add and subtract values from other matrices.
• * operator can be used to right-multiply the matrix with another matrix using mul(Matrix3) method.
• * operator can be used to scale the X and Y components of the matrix with a float of a vector using scl methods.
• Vector3 and Vector2 instances can be multiplied with a Matrix3 using * operator.
• Matrix3 instances can be destructed into nine float variables (each representing one of its cells) thanks to the component1() - component9() operator functions.

• mat4 is a human-readable global factory function that allows to easily create Matrix4 instances.
• Unary - operator (a single minus before the matrix) can be used to negate all matrix values.
• ! operator before the matrix inverts it, calling inv().
• + and - can be used to add and subtract values from other matrices.
• * operator can be used to right-multiply the matrix with another matrix using mul(Matrix4) method.
• * operator can be used to scale the X and Y components of the matrix with a float of a vector using scl methods.
• Vector3 instances can be multiplied with a Matrix4 using * operator.
• Matrix4 instances can be destructed into sixteen float variables (each representing one of its cells) thanks to the component1() - component16() operator functions.

• Kotlin Statistics contains idiomatic Kotlin wrappers over Apache Commons Math. Its extension functions might prove useful during game development.

Sadly, it does not seem that there are any public math-related Kotlin libraries that would make LibGDX math API usage more natural. You can try browsing through existing general purpose LibGDX extensions - some of them contain static methods for various math operations missing in the official API.

• LibGDX math utilities article.
• Vectors and Matrices article.