Flutter — How It Drives The Next Generation Mobile Apps

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One does not need to be a techie to know that the mobile world is ruled by two major OS — IOS and Android. However, with the increasing number of features being offered in these platforms, it is becoming increasingly challenging to keep a check on consistency, resource management, or efficiency by creating separate applications for both IOS and Android. And lack of reusability is one of the major roadblocks in scaling one’s application. This lead to the growth of cross-platform development which translates into creating software that is compatible with multiple operating systems.

There are a number of cross-platform available in the market:

• React Native — Facebook Owned cross-platform
• Xamarin — — Microsoft Owned cross-platform
• Ionic — — Independent
• PhoneGap — Adobe Owned Cross-platform
• Flutter — Google-owned Cross-platform

All of them come with their own advantages and disadvantages. Comparatively, flutter has gained good visibility over a period of time. So, in a short and crisp to-the-point article, I am going to discuss why flutter is a better choice over other platforms.

Source: Google-Form

Flutter is an open-source SDK developed by Google to build mobile applications across mobile operating systems — IOS and Android, at the same time. Yes, flutter is not a language, but an SDK that uses Google’s own language, DART, to create high-performance, efficient applications that can be easily deployed on any platform.

Let’s answer the main question — why use flutter over so many other options?

Flutter’s Unique Features :

1. Performance: Rather than creating a wrapper on the overlay of native(IOS/Android), it creates its own native UI using a c++ 2D library called “SKIA”. It makes the compilation very quick.
2. UI Components are Widget Based: In flutter, Google introduces a new approach to UI components. All components are in a widget manner. Google provides a wide range of widgets that can be used to build a beautiful application in a hassle-free manner.
3. Hot Reload: Like React Native, we can reload the frame without compiling the code. It will reduce the time for compilation and also in testing the changes.
4. Platform-Based Code: We can make a specific design as per the platform. That means we can create apps that have the look and feel of android and IOS patterns.
5. Extensible with third-party libraries: For just a small and starting community, there is a lot of third-party plugins and widgets available for Flutter. It makes the development so easy and intuitive.
6. Dart Language: Dart is a modern language developed by Google in 2011. It is easy to understand and has all OOPs concepts of Java and C++. Using Dart, we can avoid javascript bridging and provide a native feeling.

Just as a coin has two sides, Flutter is no exception, and there are a few reasons which may make pop-up in your head.

Cons of Flutter :

1. Stability: Flutter is still in release and development mode and this might mean a lack of features that may be readily available in its competitors. There may be instances of a lack of support from the developer team.
2. Lack of Extensive Community: As we know it is a developing language, there is a significant absence of a community that makes resolving even simple issues a tough task.
3. Size: Flutter apps are 50% bigger in size than compared to its native IOS/Android apps.
4. Native feature Support: To use some of the well-known native features like Bluetooth, camera, etc, we need to create separate code for IOS/Android.

Given the downside of using flutter, you might re-think your choice but as compared to its advantages and rising popularity soon, it will lead the mobility platform, and when OS like fuchsia comes, the share of flutter will dramatically increase.

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