It’s no secret Google continues to reign supreme in the search engine market. After all, it’s global market share is at 92% over the past years. The trend isn’t expected to end any time soon.
One great solution to keep up with Google’s ongoing updates and still beat the competition is to try out Google Flutter.
But what is Flutter? This post aims to give you a means of understanding what it can do for you. It’s especially important when you want to build an app without the aid of experts.
Are you ready to learn? Read on and find out more:
What is Flutter?
Flutter is the newest open-source technology provided by Google. It’s for creating new apps native to both Android and iOS. It has a single codebase, meaning that Flutter serves as a complete SDK instead of a framework. With this, you can expect it to have all the functionalities necessary for building cross-platform applications.
Some of the features include:
- Rendering Engines
- Ready-made widgets
- Testing and Integration APIs
- Command-line tools
Flutter uses reactive development architecture while adding a twist. Flutter omits the JavaScript bridge and communicates with the native platform with the use of Dart. This is the object-oriented language used by Flutter.
Dart uses compilation techniques like Ahead-of-Time to compile native code. It does so without the need for an additional bridge. This gives a noticeable performance increase when apps startup.
Debugging in Flutter is possible due to the presence of Dart. The Analyzer and Observatory tools can aid in finding errors with the use of specific commands. Another method is to use Flutter-supported IDEs and their native debuggers.
Pros of Using Flutter for Development
Flutter is a full-fledged SDK, and it offers a means of testing automatically. The tests include unit tests, widget tests, and integration tests. If you want a more in-depth Google Flutter review, here is a good post to start.
Here are the pros of using Google Flutter:
1. Ready-made and Custom Widgets
This product helps make a user interface with the use of widgets. It gives a more consistent and unified object model compared to the other approaches that make use of various objects like layouts and controllers. With Flutter, any object is an object—from buttons to fonts.
You can use these widgets and combine them to make layouts. It’s possible for you to use these on any customization levels. What this means is that you can make new widgets using the same tools the developers used.
2. Mild Learning Curve
Getting used to Dart isn’t that much of a problem even for beginners. What this means is that learning how to use Flutter isn’t challenging. The Flutter development team notes that they see people with limited programming language getting started without a lot of adjustments.
As such, even for a young technology, the usage of Flutter is growing fast. Despite being in its beta testing stage, the tool is ready for production. With that, it’s already implemented in a lot of small businesses, medium-sized agencies, and startups.
3. Hot Reload Function for Instantaneous Updates
Flutter’s architecture already supports this feature, meaning it doesn’t need plugins to function. That means you’ll have the means of seeing the updates in real time. That means you can fix the errors you encounter right away.
It’s convenient since you can continue where you left off without the need to restart the entire app. A lot of developers know that it’s a struggle for developers to program if the deployment can take a few minutes to finish. The hot reload function helps increase productivity, quickens iterations, and allows for experiments without the need to wait for long.
4. Portability
Flutter’s nature as a complete SDK makes it possible to run on any device. A lot of third-party ports help build apps using Flutter for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. These include embedding APIs as well as different plugins and features.
Some developers also made TV applications with the use of Flutter. With Google’s fondness of devices connecting to the Internet of Things, it’s possible to get these as official functionalities in the future.
5. Internationalization and Accessibility
This Google product gives a lot of built-in opportunities to increase accessibility to a wider user range. That means Flutter has native widgets to simplify internationalization. It supports about 24 languages as well as currencies, dates, layout options, and more.
Cons of Using Flutter for Development
With all the astounding and innovative features, Flutter still suffers the same set of drawbacks of most young technologies. Here are some of the drawbacks when you use Flutter for development:
1. Lack of Third-Party Libraries
These and packages make it more possible for software development to become automated. It helps ensure that programmers don’t need to code all things from scratch. Flutter suffers from the lack due to its relative novelty.
It won’t be a problem for long since the official free package resource gets better each day. If you’re looking for long-term development, you might need to wait. It might take a few more years before the amount of contributed content grows abundant.
2. Large File Size
For most developers, decreasing the size of an app is their top priority. A lot of users have limited phone storage. That’s why it’s important to make apps that won’t make users delete them in favor of their other files.
Flutter’s main frustration is that their apps tend to be bigger—even a simple Hello World app reached 6.7MB. But compared to its competitors, it’s the least offending. Some might get the same app to 16MB.
What is Flutter? Find out Today!
What is Flutter? At its core basic, it’s a universal SDK to help developers make apps for both iOS and Android. Tutorial videos are aplenty on sites like YouTube and you should be able to launch a new app in no time.
Do you want to start your own business? Looking for more tips to get a head start?
Read our guide here and find out five things that can help your business startup become successful.