Planning to launch your cross-platform mobile app but confused about which platform to choose? How about Flutter?
The Google Trend graph from January 2021 to Feb 2023 shows the increasing graph of the Flutter query search worldwide from 43% to an almost steady graph, moving between 85% to 100%. This indicates a growing and sustained interest in Flutter among developers and users globally. Let us explore the reasons behind this popularity.
What is Flutter?
Most of us know Flutter to be an open-source, cross-platform UI software development kit(SDK) released in 2018 by Google. Using a single codebase, you can create attractive, natively compiled mobile apps that show high performance across diverse platforms.
Benefits of using Flutter
The mobile market is skyrocketing. To stay relevant in the cross-platform app development niche, you must clearly understand which framework to use. React Native and Flutter are two popular frameworks for making cross-platform mobile apps. However, certain features enhance the usability and applicability of Flutter. Read on to gain a brief understanding of these features.
- Dart programming
Flutter operates on the Dart programming language, offering a reactive programming model for building UI. Seamless integration with Java for Android and Swift for iOS eliminates the need to rewrite existing applications when adopting Flutter. Furthermore, Dart can be compiled with Java to create web applications, although it is optional to combine the two. Dart offers a broader range of capabilities, including interface development and collections.
The Dart language is built on two key components: the Ahead of Time compiler (AOT) and the Just in Time compiler (JIT). AOT support enhances startup time and overall app performance, while JIT facilitates faster loading of source code. Additionally, JIT compiles with ARM(Advanced RISC Machine) for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
- Hot reload
To stay competitive, you have to develop mobile apps fast. Flutter fulfills this requirement enabling you to update code in real time on a running application. This feature is called “Hot reload,” and Flutter defines it as a feature that allows you to experiment quickly, add features, build UI, and fix errors.
In mobile app testing, it is crucial to introduce and test new source codes to determine optimal functionality. Traditional tools like Android Studio often require significant time to inject new code while the app is running.
Hot Reload saves valuable time by instantly reflecting code changes. It injects updated source code files into a running Dart VM(Virtual Machine). After VM updates, Flutter automatically rebuilds the widget tree with the new versions of fields and functions, thus allowing developers to see the impact within seconds.
Additionally, developers can experiment with desired effects without altering the application's state. The "Stateful Hot Reload" feature facilitates real-time tweaking of apps. Furthermore, there's no need to re-enter login details when applying a new code.
- Skia 2D
Flutter utilizes the Skia 2D graphics engine, ensuring smooth and glitch-free graphics rendering. With Skia drawing each pixel present on the screen, Flutter mobile apps can enable seamless 60 frames/sec animations even on your lower-end devices. Moreover, by operating at the native speed of the device, it can optimize its performance. You can also create impressive apps using Flutter’s fine-grained control over every pixel on the screen through its exceptional composition capabilities.
- Widgets
Flutter is uniquely widget-based and can apply object-oriented programming to all or any element. Generally, you must write code from scratch to integrate a specific functionality. But with Flutter, developers can eliminate this step and save time using ready-made widgets.
Commonly called the “building blocks of Flutter applications”, each element of a Flutter app screen is a widget. But widgets are more than just parts of UI. They can be customized to create views and layouts, handle user interactions, and address other critical mobile application design requirements.
Flutter widgets are organized in a hierarchical structure known as the widget tree. Each widget can have child widgets, forming a parent-child relationship. This framework efficiently manages the widget tree and updates only the necessary parts when changes occur, optimizing performance.
Widgets are highly composable, allowing developers to combine and nest them to create complex and interactive user interfaces. They can be customized by providing properties, also known as "props," to modify their appearance, content, and behavior.
- Developers
The Flutter developer community is not only vast; it is ever-evolving. They keep contributing to the framework’s extensive library of packages, plugins, and detailed documentation. You can easily integrate these into your app to enhance its capabilities and improve user experience.
Conclusion
Flutter isn't the first framework to simplify cross-platform app development, but it offers advantages that can revolutionize mobile app creation. Flutter enhances state management, reduces build times, supports popular architectures like MVI, and provides intuitive tools for Android apps. iOS developers can leverage their existing knowledge without extensive relearning, as Flutter offers equivalents for iOS elements. Ultimately, Flutter enables faster app development without compromising quality and performance.
