Why Flutter makes mobile app development faster?
You may wonder why you should use Flutter on your next project and what benefits your company will reap. This write-up is helpful whether you are the Chief Technology Officer, a TechLead, or in any other role where you need to make strategic decisions about the company’s use of technology.
Specifically, I will explain what Flutter is and why it is the best cross-platform framework available. You will gain an understanding of how the advantages of Flutter compare to those of alternative cross-platform solutions and how those advantages impact development and business operations.
What is Flutter?
Google’s Flutter is a free and open-source SDK (Software Development Kit) for creating mobile apps that run on several platforms. Flutter is an open-source framework that allows programmers to create high-performance, scalable apps with beautiful, functional UIs (User Interfaces) for both Android and iOS using a single, platform-agnostic codebase. With Flutter’s pre-built widget library, even those with minimal programming or development skills can quickly release mobile applications.
Google’s Flutter, an app development framework first announced in 2018, has swiftly become the de facto standard. Flutter is now the most popular mobile app development framework, according to Statista, dethroning the previously dominant React Native.
What is Flutter used for?
Flutter was developed to accommodate cross-platform Android and iOS apps and web and desktop-based interactive apps.
Flutter is ideal for apps that need to provide consistent visual branding across all devices. On the other hand, Flutter allows you to make experiences that are pixel-perfect matches for Android and iOS design languages.
An extensive range of devices (camera, GPS, network, and storage) and services can be integrated with Flutter thanks to the package ecosystem (such as payments, cloud storage, authentication, and ads).
What programming language is Flutter based on?
Flutter applications are developed in Dart and take advantage of several of the language’s more advanced features.
That is because Flutter is not a language at all. It is a pre-written SDK (software development kit) with both ready-to-use and customizable widgets, libraries, tools, and documentation for making cross-platform software.
Flutter is built on Google’s cross-platform programming language Dart and does not require a bridge to talk to the native layer (such as Android or iOS). Because of this, app loading times are shortened, and performance issues are mitigated.
Flutter requires developers fluent in Dart, its programming language, to construct your project. Dart’s ease of learning is comparable to other popular programming languages like Java, Net, Kotlin, Swift, and JavaScript.
It is All Widgets: The Flutter principle
The fundamental idea behind Flutter is that everything can be considered a widget. To put it simply, widgets are the atomic units of a Flutter app’s UI (User Interface) and serve as a static definition of a piece of that UI. Put another way; they specify the appearance of a user interface.
As a result, a widget is a foundation around which every Flutter app is built. The central concept is that you construct your UI using widgets. Their configuration and status specify the appearance of widgets. Several types of widgets are available, such as a text widgets, row widgets, column widgets, container widgets, and many more.
There is less back-and-forth between Flutter apps and mobile platforms because it draws its widgets and uses the Skia library for rendering UI rather than depending on platform-specific components. Because Flutter has its rendering engine, user interfaces developed with it can run on almost any device. The application’s user interface will be uniform across all supported systems.
Widgets in a Flutter app are organized in a tree structure, with each widget composed of others and inheriting their properties. Accordingly, widgets are structured hierarchically, with parent and child widgets nested within one another.
Flutter’s extensive collection of pre-built widgets streamlines and accelerates the UI/UX design process. Custom widgets can also be developed.
Icons, Icon Buttons, and Text are examples of stateless widgets, while Checkboxes, Radio Buttons, Sliders, Inkwells, and Forms are stateful widgets with dynamic characteristics.
Additionally, Flutter features platform-specific widgets, such as Material Design for Android and Cupertino for iOS.
Why Flutter Framework?
1. Fast Development
When compared to its competitors, Flutter is a lightning-fast application framework. Its “hot reload” function allows developers to try out innovative ideas quickly, create user interfaces, modify existing ones, add, and remove features, and find and repair errors. As a result, less time is needed to develop an app.
2. Expressive and Flexible UI
Flutter allows for the creation of stunning applications. The final product is comparable to that of native apps for users. Flutter’s layered architecture gives you complete command over the display’s contents. Since this is the case, Flutter modifies a breeze. Thanks to its robust composting features, graphics, text, video, and other controls can be overlaid and animated without restrictions.
Also included is a collection of widgets that, when used with an Android or iOS device, provide near-perfect user experiences. It makes it possible for Material Design to reach its full potential. Material.io, in case you did not know, is Google’s effort to improve the quality of digital experiences by encouraging the development of attractive and functional products based on the company’s Material Components.
3. Native Performance
Widgets in Flutter account for fundamental variations among platforms, including scrolling, navigation, iconography, and fonts. This means that iOS and Android users will benefit from the app’s native performance.
4. Dart Language
Google’s Dart language is designed for all sorts of software, including mobile, desktop, backend, and online applications. It is a platform-agnostic, client-focused language designed for high-performance app development.
All of Flutter’s code can be written in Dart because it is AOT (Ahead of Time) compiled into quick, predictable, native code. Since this is the case, Flutter is lightning-quick and very adaptable. Everything (including each widget) is up for grabs regarding personalization.
5. Important Flutter Tools
Many development environments are compatible with the Flutter framework. Additionally, it helps with app development via the command line. This new debugging tool, Dart DevTools, is more adaptable and even allows inspection during runtime. Flutter App Development will enable you to view logs, debug programs, and examine widgets.
- The widget inspector helps see the tree structure and navigate it. Flutter relies on it to render user interfaces.
- The timeline view facilitates frame-by-frame tracking of your program. Timeline views also make it possible to separate rendering and computational tasks.
- A debugger can access the source code, allowing you to step through it, set breakpoints, and examine the call stack.
- Dart runtime, application framework, and app-level logging events can all be viewed in Logging View.
Conclusion
A cross-platform app development framework is invaluable for creating apps for numerous platforms with a single codebase. For creating an app from scratch that runs on several platforms, Flutter is a great option. Its multiple advantages and unique qualities have contributed to its meteoric rise in popularity. Also, it is the best option to create a cross-platform app at a reasonable price while meeting your customers’ ambitious standards.
