App development in Flutter: discover its advantages

Do you know why app development in Flutter is so special?

Before starting to talk about the particularities and advantages of this new framework, let me start with a little information about what Flutter is and why it has unleashed this furor in the digital world that does not leave indifferent either the developer community or the new digital-based businesses.

What is Flutter?

Flutter is an open source framework (open source framework that provides a scheme or pattern for app development), created by Google to develop applications for iOS and Android smartphones.

To develop apps in Flutter we use the Dart programming language, developed in 2011 by Google with the idea of ​​becoming a substitute for Javascript, which has been implementing in the latest versions things that already existed in Dart.

Particularities of app development in Flutter

Flutter, created by Google in 2017, provides near-native performance to mobile apps for iOS and Android by developing a common code base. We will talk here about the advantages of using this framework in app development, as well as the peculiarities that distinguish it from other cross-platform developments.

To better understand some of the features that we are going to mention, we are going to see how an app developed in Flutter works in comparison with a native application (developed with the programming languages ​​recommended by Apple and Google) and another developed in React Native (framework created by Facebook for the development of cross-platform applications).

Native performance

Where is the "bridge" in Flutter? What is most impressive about the design of these apps is that the Flutter source code is written in Dart, as we explained at the beginning of the post, and is based on responsive programming like React Native. The difference, as you can see in the diagram, is that in the development of apps in Flutter the source code compiles to native code from the first moment, By avoiding this bridge, communication is speeded up and related problems that can arise in custom enterprise software development are avoided. It therefore offers practically native performance and allows an execution speed of 60 fps.

Own widgets

Flutter doesn't use default native graphic elements on iOS and Android smartphones, which is why we see these widgets integrated into the app in the picture for example, Xamarin also renders all code natively but doesn't use its own code do not use to create widgets. By not using the native components of the platform, it has a great advantage over other cross-platform technologies, such as React Native, because regardless of the version of the platform, the components that come out in the latest versions can be used. This, for example, solves the fragmentation problem that we encounter in Android.

The heart of Flutter's layout mechanism is widgets. The distribution of elements or widgets on the screen does not follow CSS or HTML style rules or use tags but is done through code. This improves the positioning time of elements on the screen and improves performance efficiency, allowing the UI to be controlled in detail, resulting in richer interfaces.

Hot reload

The hot reload feature is another of Flutter's differentiating features and helps create user interfaces, add features, and fix bugs quickly and easily. This is made possible by the Dart architecture, which injects updated source code files into the running Dart virtual machine (VM). After the VM updates classes with the new versions of fields and functions, Flutter automatically rebuilds the widget tree, allowing you to quickly see the effects of the changes you made without needing to restart the app.

This advantage, which may seem small, completely changes the way the custom software developer approaches the app. It makes development more productive because it takes less time to make changes and creative because you are no longer afraid of making small modifications because of the time it will take to test them.

User experience and interface design

Flutter respects the look and feel of Apple and Google operating systems. Flutter has widgets that support the Android Material style as well as others that support the iOS style, so the interfaces are identical to those of native applications. The appropriate user experience is assured and with that Flutter adds many points for the development of cross-platform applications.

Flutter only uses Dart to define design elements, so it does not require separate visual tools. Developers, once they get used to the language, believe that it reduces the context switch because the change between design and programming is avoided. The hot reload, mentioned before, also contributes to this task because it allows you to quickly see the changes made to the design.

Loading time

There is almost nothing worse in the user experience than an app that takes a while to load. Flutter is outstanding in this aspect and loading times are under one second on both iOS and Android smartphones, which allows you to use the app developed in Flutter instantly.

7 Advantages of app development in Flutter

Development time and agility : with Flutter there is an important code base that is shared by the different platforms, which reduces custom software product development time and helps with maintenance, although there are still native frameworks that require specific code. Added to this is the agility provided by hot reload, which allows you to see the changes made to the code on the fly.

Excellent UI : Widgets created by Google or by us, bring clarity to the designs and animations created in Flutter and incorporate all the features of Apple and Google mobile platforms such as scrolling, navigation, icons and fonts. Flutter's graphical interface respects the characteristics of iOS and Android, ensuring an app of high aesthetic quality. The layered architecture allows complete customization of our app.

Fluid UX : Flutter offers a native experience on both platforms, this optimization achieves an excellent user experience on both iOS and Android smartphones.

Native performance : Your code is compiled into native ARM machine code using native Dart compilers, allowing you to create apps faster than other cross-platform technologies.

Updated libraries and widgets : behind Flutter is the support and commitment of Google, which cares about having updated resources and making this development framework known. Other cross-platform technologies depend more on the community.

The community likes it : the community seems to have welcomed this technology with open arms, which is an advantage to venture into projects that will have a large mass of developers

Specialized teams : one scenario in which this framework seems advantageous is when a software development consulting firms is needed to develop new iOS and Android functionalities at the same time. In the event that after developing your app you need a transfer of knowledge to form an internal team, you will not need to find developers who are experts in two technologies to create your team.

Conclusions

As we can see, Flutter has all the necessary components to become one of the cross-platform technologies preferred by the community. There is no doubt that Google's interest means that its adoption has been dizzyingly fast and there are rumors that Flutter may be the framework for Fuchsia, the new operating system that Google is working on.

For the reasons we have seen, Flutter seems like a good decision to start a business using this technology. Its speed, neat UI, time savings, and ease of implementing components make it a very good option for creating a prototype to quickly go to market.

Glad you are reading this. I’m Yokesh Shankar, the COO at Sparkout Tech, one of the primary founders of a highly creative space. I’m more associated with digital transformation solutions for global issues. Nurturing in Fintech, Supply chain, AR VR so