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Developing a mobile application is typically a complex and challenging task. Various frameworks are available for this purpose. Android has a native framework built on Java, while iOS uses a native framework based on Objective-C or Swift. However, creating an app that supports both operating systems requires coding in two different languages and using separate frameworks. To simplify this process, there are cross-platform mobile frameworks that support both OSs. These range from basic HTML-based hybrid frameworks (which use HTML for the UI and JavaScript for the logic) to more advanced frameworks that convert code to native languages. Despite their benefits, these frameworks often suffer from performance issues, with one major drawback being their slower performance compared to native development. In this Introduction to Flutter article, you will understand the basic guide.

In this context, Flutter—a high-performance framework built on the Dart language—emerges as a solution. It delivers superior performance by rendering the UI directly onto the OS canvas, bypassing native frameworks. Flutter also provides a wide array of ready-to-use widgets optimized for mobile environments, making UI design as intuitive as working with HTML. Notably, a Flutter application is itself a widget, and Flutter widgets support animations and gestures. The application logic is based on reactive programming, and widgets can maintain a state. When a widget’s state changes, Flutter automatically updates only the necessary parts of the UI, enhancing efficiency by avoiding full re-renders.

What is Flutter?

Flutter is an open-source UI software development toolkit created by Google. It allows developers to build natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. Using the Dart programming language, Flutter offers a comprehensive framework with a wide range of customizable widgets that are optimized for creating responsive, modern user interfaces. It also provides direct access to platform-specific APIs, enabling developers to create high-performance apps that closely mimic native experiences.

Why Flutter?

1. Cross-Platform Development: Flutter allows developers to write one codebase that works across multiple platforms—Android, iOS, web, and desktop—saving time and effort.
2. High Performance: Unlike hybrid frameworks, Flutter compiles directly to native machine code, ensuring fast performance and smooth animations.
3. Customizable Widgets: Flutter provides a rich set of pre-built, highly customizable widgets that make it easy to design beautiful and dynamic UIs.
4. Hot Reload: Flutter’s hot reload feature enables developers to see real-time changes in the app while maintaining the app’s state, speeding up the development process.
5. Reactive Framework: With reactive programming, Flutter efficiently updates only the necessary parts of the UI when a widget’s state changes, resulting in more efficient rendering.
6. Strong Community Support: As a Google-backed framework, Flutter has a growing community and extensive documentation, making it easier for developers to find resources, libraries, and support.

Features of Flutter

Flutter offers a range of powerful features for developers, making it a highly attractive framework for building mobile, web, and desktop applications. Below are its key features:

• Modern and Reactive Framework: Flutter provides a reactive programming model, which allows efficient state management and real-time UI updates.
• Dart Programming Language: Flutter uses the Dart language, which is easy to learn and offers a simple syntax for developers familiar with JavaScript or other object-oriented languages.
• Rapid Development: Flutter’s hot reload feature enables developers to see the changes instantly during the development process, significantly speeding up the development cycle.
• Beautiful and Fluid User Interfaces: With its extensive catalog of customizable widgets, Flutter helps create smooth and visually appealing UIs that work seamlessly across platforms.
• Wide Widget Catalog: Flutter comes with a rich collection of pre-built widgets designed to follow platform-specific guidelines for Android, iOS, and other platforms.
• Cross-Platform UI Consistency: Developers can create consistent user interfaces for multiple platforms (Android, iOS, web, and desktop) without needing to write separate code for each platform.
• High Performance: Since Flutter compiles directly to native code, it offers fast execution and smooth animations, delivering a high-performance application experience.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Flutter

Flutter brings numerous advantages, but like any framework, it has its limitations as well. Below is a detailed comparison:

Advantages	Disadvantages
– Extensive widget catalog for building beautiful, high-performance UIs	– Developers must learn Dart, though it is relatively easy to pick up
– Single codebase for Android and iOS, reducing development time and effort	– UI and logic are tightly coupled, which might not align with some best practices for separating concerns
– Future potential to support additional platforms beyond Android and iOS	– Developers face challenges in choosing from numerous available frameworks
– Less testing needed, as one codebase covers both platforms
– Highly customizable and extendable framework
– Full control over widget layout and behavior
– Hot reload feature for instant feedback during development

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Flutter Architecture

Flutter Alternatives

React Native

• An open-source UI software framework created by Facebook in 2015.
• Used to develop applications for both Android and IOS.
• React Framework, a JavaScript library along with native platform is used to develop applications.
• Allows developers to use developers to write native code in languages such as Java or Kotlin for Android, Objective-C or Swift for IOS which makes it even more flexible.

Xamarin

• Xamarin is a cross-platform mobile app development framework owned by Microsoft based on Mono, a free and open-source .NET framework.
• Founded by engineers in 2011 and later acquired by Microsoft in 2016.
• Apps are developed using C# language and Microsoft Visual Studio tool is used.

Comparison (React native VS Flutter)

According to the survey of most loved frameworks on stack overflow in 2020, Flutter was more favored by developers than React Native.

App made with Flutter

Here are the screenshots of those apps that are built in Flutter Framework

Companies using Flutter

Conclusion

Flutter is a powerful framework for building cross-platform applications that deliver high performance and a native-like experience on Android, iOS, web, and desktop. With its extensive widget library, fast development cycle, and robust community support, it’s a great tool for both beginners and experienced developers. Whether you’re building simple UI elements or complex applications, Flutter provides the flexibility and ease you need to bring your ideas to life.

By following the steps and guidelines outlined in this guide, you now have a solid foundation to start creating your own Flutter apps. The Flutter ecosystem is continuously evolving, so be sure to stay up to date with the latest updates and best practices. Happy coding!

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