Jitan Gupta

Posted on Sep 2, 2021

Dart for Experienced Programmers

#dart #darklang

If you know any Object Oriented programming language like C#, Java, and you want to understand the basic fundamentals of Dart. This article is for you.

Before you proceed further, please note, this article contains only examples and syntaxes.

Fundamentals

Dart is static type, object oriented programing language.
Dart support two types of compilation i.e. JIT (Just in Time) and AOT (Ahead of Time).

Just In Time

A JIT compiler converts program source code into native machine code just before program execution. Compilers are usually one of the deciding factors in the speed of an application both in development and when pushed to production. The JIT compilers can be used to improve performance speed and improve application runtime.

Ahead Of Time

The AOT compiler works by compiling your code before it is “delivered” to whatever runtime environment runs the code. The AOT compiler is typically used when the app is ready to be deployed to either an appstore or an in-house production backend.

Read/Write

import 'dart:io';

stdout.writeln("What is your name");
String? name = stdin.readLineSync();
print("My name is $name"); //$name string interpolation

Data Types

Strongly typed data type: int, double, String, bool
Dynamic typed data type: dynamic

void main() {
  int amount = 100;
  var amount2 = 100;

  print("amount: $amount | amount2: $amount2");

  // similarly for String, double, bool

  // dynamic
  dynamic weakVariable = 100;
  print("Weak variable 1: $weakVariable \n");

  weakVariable = "Dart Programming";
  print("Weak variable 2: $weakVariable");

}

String

void main() {
  var s1 = 'Single quotes work';
  var s2 = 'Double quotes work as well';
  var s3 = 'It\'s easy to escpte the string delimiter';
  var s4 = "It's even easier";

  print(s1);
  print(s2);
  print(s3);
  print(s4);
  print('');

  // Raw String
  var s = r'In a raw string, not even \n gets special treatment';
  print(s);

  // String interpolation
  var number = 35;
  var str = "Current number is $number";
  print(str);
}

Type Conversion

void main() {

  // String -> int
  var one = int.parse('1'); // not safe, if 'str' is passed, it will fail
  assert(one ==1); // testing that parsed correctly

  // String -> double
  var onePointOne = double.parse('1.1');
  assert(onePointOne == 1.1);

  // int -> String
  String oneAsString = 1.toString();
  assert(oneAsString == '1');

  // double -> String
  String piAsString = 3.14150.toStringAsFixed(2); // 2 floating point
  assert(piAsString == '3.14');
}

Constant

use const keyword to make a variable const.

Null

if you will to set null, you will get linting error (disable it before testing).

class Num {
  int num = 10;
}

main() {
  var n; // n is null
  // var n = New(); // creating new object of class
  int number = n?.num ?? 0; // if n is null or n.num is 0 then assign 0
  print(number);
}

Function

old school

<return_type> / void <function_name>(param_type param1, param_type param1 ){
  return / nothing in case of void
}

dynamic square(var num) {
  return num * num;
}

int square2(int num) {
  return num * num;
}

Arrow Function => // '=>' is also known as fat arrow function;

dynamic square(var num) => num * num;

nameless function also known as anonymous function

main() {
  var list = ['apples', 'bananas', 'oranges'];
  list.forEach(printF); // old school
}

void printF(item) {
  print(item);
}


// anonymous type
 var list = ['apples', 'bananas', 'oranges'];
  list.forEach((item) {
    print(item);
  });
}

Positional & Named Parameter

// Positional parameter
main() {
  print(sum(2, 2));
}

dynamic sum(var num1, var num2) => num1 + num2;
// ---------
// Named Parameter
main() {
  print(sum(num2: 5, num1: 8));
}

dynamic sum({var num1, var num2}) => num1 + num2;
// ---------
// Combined together
main() {
  print(sum(5, num2: 8));
}

dynamic sum(var num1, {var num2}) => num1 + num2;

Note:
By default named parameters are optional parameter, but you need to handle the null situation.
Updated code

main() {
  print(sum(5));
}

dynamic sum(var num1, {var num2}) => num1 + (num2 ?? 0); // manually handling
// dynamic sum(var num1, {var num2 = 0}) => num1 + num2; // default value

similarly for Positional parameter

dynamic sum(var num1, [var num2]) => num1 + (num2 ?? 0); // manually handling

Class

class Person {
  String name;
  int age;

  // Shortcut
  Person(this.name, [this.age = 18]); // [] optional parameter, in this case age

  // Named Constructor
  Person.Guest([this.name = "Guest", this.age = 18]) {} // optional parameter
  Person.Guest2({this.name = "Guest", this.age = 18}) {} // positional parameter

  void showOutput() {
    print(name + ' ' + age.toString());
  }
}

class X {
  final name; // won't change after assigning first time // runtime
  static const int age = 10; // compile time

  X(this.name);
}
// --------
// Inheritance & overriding
class Vehical {
  String model;
  int year;

  // Shortcut
  Vehical(this.model, this.year);

  void showOutput() {
    print(model + ' ' + year.toString());
  }
}

// inheritance
class Car extends Vehical {  
  double price;

  Car(String model, int year, this.price) : super(model, year);

  // void showOutpu() {
  //   super.showOutput();
  //   print(this.price);
  // }

  @override
  void showOutput() {
    print(this.price);
    print(this.price);
  }
}

Collection[List, Set, Map]:

main() {
  List<String> names = ['name1', 'name2'];
  // List names = ['name1', 'name2']; // List<dynamic>
  // var names = ['name1', 'name2']; // List<String>
  print(names[0]);
}

  // Mutable
  List<String> names = ['name1', 'name2'];
  names[1] = "new name";

  // Immutable
  List<String> names2 = const ['name1', 'name2'];
  names2[1] = "updated"; // while running, this will break;

Set

// Set is an unordered collection of unique item.

var halogens = {'fluorine', 'chlorine', 'fluorine'}; // as you can see, I am trying to add 'fluorine' again, this will throw linting error

// this will work
Set<String> halogens = {'fluorine', 'chlorine'};

Map

// Map is basically a collection of key-value items, similar to Dictionary in C#

  // Map
  Map<String, String> halogens = {'first': 'fluorine', 'second': 'chlorine'};
  var halogens2 = {'first': 'fluorine', 'second': 'chlorine'};
  var halogens3 = {1: 'fluorine', 2: 'chlorine'}; 
  Map<int, String> x = {1: 'fluorine', 2: 'chlorine'};
  var halogens4 = Map();
}

Exception Handling:

 try {


  } on CustomException { // handle custom errors, if the error is of type CustomException


  }  on DomException { // handle Dom Exception


  }catch (e) { // handle all error except above exceptions

  } finally {


  }

Future, Async, Await

Future<String> createOrderMessage() async {
  var order = await fetchUserOrder();
  return "Your order is: $order";
}

Future<String> fetchUserOrder() => Future.delayed(
  const Duration(seconds: 2),
  () => "Some product",
);

Future<void> main() async {
  print("Fetching user order...");
  print(await createOrderMessage());
}

If I have missed any important topic regarding dart fundamentals, please comment down below. I will be more than happy to update this article.

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