Google I/O 2022 recently released flutter 3.0 with many updated features. iofod team finally made IFstruct parser support for generating flutter 3.0 code after more than a week of work!
The current situation
Flutter has attracted many developers with its high development and delivery efficiency, good development experience, excellent cross-site multi-platform capabilities, and strong UI presentation, which is why iofod chose Flutter over React native cross-platform rendering framework for mobile.
Since the release of flutter 2.0, the iofod technical team has improved the IFstruct parser. It supports iofod projects to generate flutter project code and generate running apps for iOS and Android platforms with Flutter.
We released support for flutter version 2.10.5 a while ago and have now upgraded to support flutter version 3.0. Flutter 3.0 enhances the development of applications for desktop platforms, but we prioritize full support for iOS and Android platforms. Desktop platforms are also available for preview if the video component is removed, which is left to interested developers to do themselves. We promise that after the official resolution of these issues, iofod will be upgraded accordingly and in time.
iofod, IFstruct parser and Flutter
Iofod edits IFstruct structures, and IFstruct parser generates Flutter project code from IFstruct structures.
One of the goals of iofod is to build a unified, universal application development paradigm. We have abstracted an easy-to-learn but super free and robust methodology for versatile website and application development by referring to many front-end development frameworks, combined with a massive amount of project experience: IFstruct, and developed the no-code low-code development tool iofod.
Iofod allows you to create all kinds of websites and applications without writing a single line of code. With iofod, you can develop all types of websites and applications as freely as someone who has mastered programming. You can create more complex applications and even change the system’s default behavior if you have programming skills. Iofod can be used as a Photoshop for developing applications, and anyone can use it to apply a website or application wherever needed.
We struggled with the choice of frameworks because well-known frameworks are often tied to communities. For example, we often used React because certain libraries were only available in the React ecosystem. When developing apps, we had difficulty deciding between Flutter, React Native, and Hybrid Web, each with its advantages and disadvantages.
Can I have all the advantages of a framework?
We borrowed heavily from the flutter design philosophy, retaining the efficiency and simplicity of web development, adopting the flutter technology stack for the mobile app, and extending the functionality of Flutter to achieve the universal development paradigm envisioned by iofod.
We translate IFstruct constructs into platform-specific code by implementing parsers for specific platforms, and in the future, we will support all device platforms, building once and running everywhere.
With the iofod visual editor application interface, we saved many time and IT resources. After completing our iofod editor, all of the company’s websites and applications have since been iofod-built projects, such as the official website and project homepage that you see most, which are all iofod-built products.
What iofod has changed
Iofod builds a unified, universal application development paradigm. Just as you see many layers when you open a PSD in Photoshop, the user interface is organized in iofod through a similar structure. We cut the app into multiple pages, each consisting of layers, containers, unit components, and nothing more.
The concept of “everything is a component” is slightly different from flutter. iofod means that all application interfaces can be represented by a combined arrangement of text, image resources, and containers, and iofod does not treat properties as components, like Padding, Opacity, and Positioned. If you are familiar with web development, they are the same concept as CSS properties padding, opacity, left, and top, but with different usage.
Suppose you often manipulate Canvas for drawing graphics. In that case, you will find that the drawing process is very similar to the way flutter organizes its interface, with Opacity, Padding, and other components acting as instructions for drawing on Canvas.
Flutter is a little closer to the latter if you compare compositing images and hand-drawing to the two extremes of output content. The drawing mindset, which has you trying to fit the structure of a user interface into your head, is a challenge for working memory. If we treat some of the components as their properties, forming a mind map-like structure, this is more in line with the human brain’s thinking pattern.
Fortunately, we found that the implementation of this pattern belongs to a subset of the Web domain and applies to UIs on all devices, which is one of the flutter’s ambitions. Iofod is a bigger step; writing code to complement the construction of a generic user interface and visualization is the most direct and efficient way to do it.
The next plan
For the iofod editor, firstly, add more component extensions, provide richer prefabs, and improve efficiency, which is the most important development work now. Secondly, provide project templates for different fields and business scenarios to enhance the project start-up speed further, and finally, provide feature APIs and actions for different ends to cover more business scenarios.
For the IFstruct parser for Flutter, we will provide long-term support for the stable version of Flutter, which means the IFstruct parser will continue to follow the update of the stable branch, and we will update the IFstruct parser synchronously within one month at the latest for each new version release. You don’t have to worry about the iofod project leaving the flutter community.
Finally
Every mobile developer is crazy about the “fast development, expressive and flexible UI, native performance” features and concepts that Flutter brings, and now iofod adds efficiency and simplicity to it.
Iofod has opened the IFstruct parser on GitHub. Don’t you want to learn more? You can check out our official documentation and official website for detailed instructions.
- Official website: https://www.iofod.com/
- Document: https://doc.iofod.com/
- Github: https://github.com/iofod/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/fodhub/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/iofod
Feedback welcomed! Thanks everyone!
