This weekend I decided to take the dive and build a mobile app. I always assumed that I would use React Native because I use React at work and it would be an easier transition.

However, I have also been curious about trying something different and something with the ability to work on ios, android, and web.

So I decided to build this app using Flutter over the weekend. The app is a simple future value calculator that determines what the value of an asset will be in the future.

What is Flutter?

Flutter is an open-source UI toolkit that can be used for mobile, web or desktop and is created from a single codebase. So you write your code once and it will run on ios, android, and desktop.

Dart Programming Language

Flutter uses the Dart programming language because it can be used to develop on different platforms (ios, android, web). It also has a fast development cycle by making use of hot reload. Any changes you make to your flutter application are automatically reflected in UI instantly.

Dart will be familiar to you if you have used JavaScript, Swift or Java.

Variables do not have to have their datatypes explicitly stated. However, when you create a function the parameters should have their datatypes specified.

Let's look at some sample dart code.

//function
void main() {
 print("Hello World");
}

Every app has a main() function and it has the keyword void to indicate that it isn't returning anything.

Let's look at how we would declare a function.

int addNum(int x, int y)
 return x + y;
}

Those were a few features of Dart. Head to the Dart to learn more about dart.

Here is a link to the Flutter App I built this weekend.

AweysAhmed / flutter-app

how_much

A new Flutter project.

Getting Started

This project is a starting point for a Flutter application.

A few resources to get you started if this is your first Flutter project:

• Lab: Write your first Flutter app
• Cookbook: Useful Flutter samples

For help getting started with Flutter, view our online documentation, which offers tutorials, samples, guidance on mobile development, and a full API reference.

View on GitHub

I still have some refactoring to conduct but the UI and the ability to calculate the future value are complete. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for the app.

I'll post about Flutter after I refactor and start the process of launching the app.

Comments

[Max Klymenko]

Great article about app dev! Thanks a lot for your efforts. For those who is interested in app development from business side and fundamentals you can check this article:
spd.group/app-dev/enterprise-mobil...
There are a lot of useful and up-to-date tips, hope it will be useful! :)

[103221]

Yeahh, Flutter supremacy! But actually thank you for writing about Flutter, how it works, what it can do, how much it takes. That's great, I think Flutter deserves even more attention, both from the side of developers (which I guess now reached really high points of interest), and from the clients. I liked this article surf.dev/what-you-should-know-abou... about Flutter, it covers most of the clients' question quite well :)

[Aweys Ahmed]

Thanks for reading my post and sharing the article. I'll check it out. I agree Flutter deserves more attention.

[Entony]

Hi, I can say that flutter ui framework is a good option for cross-platform development. Flutter is not just a framework, it’s a complete SDK for building apps. That means Flutter contains everything needed to create a user interface (UI), including the widgets for Material Design and Cupertino. They allow developers to render the UI on both iOS and Android easily.

[Aweys Ahmed]

Sorry for the late response to your comment. Thanks for adding more context to my post with your comment.