Flutter is a software development kit for building applications from a single code base.
It stands out from the competition thanks to its fast development, native performance, and beautiful and highly functional user interface.
However, the story of Flutter began not too long ago. It was introduced at the Dart Developer Summit in 2015. The first version of Flutter was called "Sky" and ran on the Android operating system.
After Google released the alpha in 2017, interest in this framework had proliferated. Even before the official launch in 2018, many apps were already built with it.
Among the most popular apps built with Flutter are Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Google Ads, and the official app of famous Broadway musicals: Hamilton.
As a programming language, Flutter uses Dart. It is probably one of the reasons developers love it. Dart is an object-oriented language also developed by Google. It is considered easy to learn, especially if you already have experience with Java, C++, or JS.
Dart is compiled into binary code, so the speed of operations is comparable to Objective-C, Swift, Java, or Kotlin. In other words, Dart combines many reasonable solutions that help solve complex tasks faster, making it the best combination for Flutter.
What are the advantages of Flutter?
A codebase for IOS and Android
If you are already familiar with the software development process, you will understand that it can be quite complicated and time-consuming.
Especially if you are developing mobile apps for Android and IOS, the technologies for these two platforms are different. For example, Android requires Java or Kotlin coding, and iOS uses Swift or Objective-C. Therefore, you may need two separate teams to work on your project.
Flutter uses the same code base for both IOS and Android. It means not only a single development team but also the ability to release apps on both platforms simultaneously. Also, you can update your app and add new features or changes simultaneously.
Faster encoding
To help developers, for example, fix bugs and add features much faster, Flutter provides a tool called Hot Reload. It allows you to see the changes made in the code immediately, without restarting the application. In the case of native development, the application must be rebuilt often, taking a significant amount of time. Hot Reload speeds up the development process and provides a better developer experience.
Great performance
We have already mentioned Flutter's programming language: Dart. It is compiled directly into native code, so there is no need for additional bridges between the application and the platform.
It speeds up application startup time and improves performance.
The creators of Flutter promise a constant 60 frames per second, which is the speed of the smooth and clear image displayed on modern screens.
User interface
Flutter provides a vast catalog of built-in UI components that can easily customize. There are two sets of widgets: Material Design widgets (Android) and Cupertino widgets (IOS style) to make your app look and feel platform-specific.
Also, when Flutter runs on older versions of Android and IOS, it works just as well as it does on updated operating systems.
Open source
Flutter is free and open source. The Flutter community grows rapidly, with over 74,700 stars on GitHub, one of the largest software developer collaboration platforms.
Perfect choice for MVP
If you want to develop MVP, Flutter is probably the best option. It gives you the benefits of faster time to market, saves development costs, and helps attract investors with beautiful designs and native-like performance.
Flutter Cons
Young tech
Some libraries are still missing despite Google's active support and growing popularity. So if you need advanced functionality, native development works best. So it can be said that Flutter is a relatively young technology.
Is Flutter better?
Flutter is based on Dart, Google's in-house programming language, which gives Flutter access to Skia's graphics library. Additionally, Flutter works closely with the Google Material Designs that Android users have come to know.
Reasons to choose Flutter:
● Limitations of cross-platform approaches.
With Flutter, you not only have the advantage of a "write-once" approach, but you create a high-performance "native" experience because a Flutter app is a pre-compiled binary machine-executable. It overcomes many of the everyday challenges that come with cross-platform app approaches.
Creating a genuinely cross-platform approach has long been the bane of technology consultants tired of having to make multiple versions of identical products. However, in reality, the user experience often lags behind that of native apps because you often build the user interface experience in JavaScript that needs to be compiled Just In Time.
● Increase productivity.
This increase in productivity comes from Flutter's "Hot Reload" and "Hot Restart." Together, they allow developers to see the changes they make to an application's state in less than a second and changes to the application's structure in less than ten.
However, the advantages are vital. Development time is often reduced by 30-40% because the Gradle rebuild times that slow down Android developers usually take longer with each modification applied.
● Unique code with frontend and backend
Futter uses a single language (Dart) that does the work and uses a reactive framework. Dart has been built on many of the most popular features of other languages without losing familiarity with Java or similar languages.
● Powerful design experience.
Thanks to the Flutter team's careful implementation of the material design specification, it's easy to create powerful UI experiences right out of the box. Flutter has widgets that implement the Human Interface Design specs for iOS, allowing you to get that native "feel" on iPhone and iPad as well. It helps produce the smooth and crisp experience that you typically only see with native apps because the release version of Flutter is a native app.
● Catalog of open source packages.
An open-source package is available to help you build applications faster, and there are many packages available today that make many complicated tasks more manageable. Although still relatively young.
● Firebase integration.
Firebase provides support for various services such as cloud storage, cloud features, real-time databases, hosting, authentication, and much more. It's also easy to combine with a tool to automate your development and release process like Fastlane, facilitating Continuous Delivery.
● IDE support.
Flutter can code with many integrated development environments. At first, I started with Android Studio, but later I used VS Code. That got me wondering, and I discovered that many Flutter developers use Visual Code. VS Code is lightweight and much faster and has most of the features available in Android Studio and IntelliJ.
● UI compliance.
Everything is a widget in Flutter, App bar, Drawer, Snackbar, Scaffold, etc. It's easy to wrap one widget inside another, so this can do things like center something, wrapping it in a center widget. It is all part of helping make sure your users have an experience no matter what platform they're running on.
● The specific theme for different platforms.
Assigning a suitable theme for a user's platform is as easy as using a ternary to check which platform the user is running on, allowing your UI to make runtime decisions about which UI components to use.
● Continuous integration through Code Magic.
Code Magic is an open-source tool included in Flutter Live. Code Magic is easy to learn and completely free! It is a highly sophisticated CI tool optimized specifically for Flutter, and the magic of the code makes the build processes seamless.
● Desktop and web development using Flutter.
The Flutter team now has prototype Flutter apps that work in a web browser. With ease, you can use the same code to build apps for mobile, desktop, and the web.
● Continuous support.
Much support and encouragement from the Flutter team and the Flutter community.
The value of using Flutter is readily apparent and highly appealing because it is far removed from the pain points that startups trying to launch to multiple platforms face, especially when it comes to limited time and budget to bring the software product to market.
Summary
Flutter Development offers all the advantages of cross-platform development but does not compromise on quality, which is mostly the case with this type of technology. Beautiful, Fast, Productive, Open. It is how its creators describe Flutter.
Even now, it may be the best option for your project, saving you a great deal of time and money. With strong support from Google and the enthusiastic developer community, the future for this SDK looks very promising.
Still, there is no single technology that fits all projects. So remember that the choice should be based on project specificity, business priorities, resource availability, and more.
Are you looking for Flutter developers? Contact us, and let's create something great together!
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