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How to get started with Flutter

One of the newest hot trends from Google is Flutter. Like me, you may have fallen in love with flutter as a result of periodic advancements from conference speakers, recent technological developments, rumors from friends or even coworkers, and you may be unsure of where to begin. Here are some guides on how to get started using Flutter.

1. Get a fundamental understanding of what flutter actually is as a first step.
Flutter is a Google-created open source mobile application development framework based on the Dart programming language. It enables developers to craft native interfaces for both iOS and Android.

Flutter uses a reactive, declarative style of programming that makes creating beautiful, fast, and reliable mobile apps easier than ever before. The framework also includes a variety of widgets that allow developers to customize the look and feel of their apps.

Why Flutter?

Because it offers cross-platform development, businesses can avoid having to hire separate -iOS and Android developers to create the same app.
Saves time by not having to create the same interface again and lets you use mobile applications that have a native look and feel.
Enables the creation of 2D effects, games, and animation
Hot reload functionality is provided by high velocity development.

2. Development Platforms.

You might be curious to learn about the development platforms to employ once you have a basic understanding of what flutter is. Xcode and Android Studio are certainly familiar to you if you are an iOS or Android user. Similar to how Android requires Android SDK, Flutter also needs Flutter SDK. The appropriate IDEs are:

Android Studio

VScode

Xcode

You could check this https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/ editor on steps on how to set up your favourable editor.

3. Discover this lovely language — Dart.

Next, familiarize yourself with Dart before getting into flutter. Object-oriented programming concepts like variables, classes, methods, functions, operators, control flow statements, exceptions like throw, catch, and finally, and data types like Strings, Maps, and Lists among others will be covered in detail by Dart.

You could check []https://www.dartlang.org/) to get started on Dart Language.

You can also use this online editor https://dartpad.dartlang.org/ to practice on the Dart language.

4. Create your first Flutter app.

You are now comfortable enough to launch your first Flutter application after going through the fundamental OOP programming principles including looping, functions, variables, classes, and conditional expressions. Everything in Flutter, including displays, messages, visuals, containers, and more, is a widget. Making widgets is a part of the Flutter UI design process.

You can check out https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/codelab to start up your first hello world flutter app. You can either use your phone or an emulator to run your app using the command flutter run.

5. Google Codelabs

This entails detailed instructions for solving coding problems. It is intriguing since it is quite practical; you can follow the codelabs and even modify them afterwards to suit your preferences.

You can check it out here: https://flutter.dev/docs/codelabs

6. Udacity Flutter Course

Moreover, Google provides a free Flutter Udacity course. This might be used to gain a sneak peek of how flutter apps operate. This could be done practically to improve your comprehension.

7. Flutter youtube videos.

To view flutter tutorials, you could visit Flutter Channel. These aid in expanding your knowledge base quickly.

https://www.youtube.com/@flutterdev

8. Attempt Code Challenges

You should be able to understand Dart syntax after completing the aforementioned stages. The capacity to break an issue down into manageable parts and find solutions is tested by taking on code challenges. To put your knowledge of the Dart language to the test, join up for CodeWars/Kata challenges at https://codewars.com. It increases your desire to complete challenges and get more points, which piques your interest in programming.

9. Flutter Community

You can connect with others who have used Flutter firsthand by joining the flutter community conversation. You can get informed answers to your queries concerning problems you are unable to solve by asking them.
https://github.com/fluttercommunity

10. Connect with SalamiTech (Flutter Developer)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gideon-kofi-salami-44a206209/

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