After more than two years of waiting, it is finally here. Announced in November 2015, Google presented the beta of the Flutter framework at the Mobile World Congress from Monday 26 February to Thursday 1 March 2018 in Barcelona.
Flutter is a framework based on a web programming language developed by Google but still little known: Dart.
Dart? But what is it?
Developed by Google in 2011, Dart is a modern programming language that can also compile to JavaScript. This language is so intuitive that it will be very easy for you to learn if you already develop in Java or JavaScript. You can use Dart to program server-side applications (like Node), but also to create mobile phone applications (with Flutter).
A framework that speeds up the development of native applications
Developing Android and iOS applications takes time and uses resources, but Google has clearly understood that. Flutter is an open-source Google framework that allows you to develop your applications more quickly. This program includes:
- An optimised 2D rendering engine with text support
- A modern and creative framework
- A varied set of widgets for iOS and Android
- APIs:
- for carrying out unit tests and integration tests
- that guarantee interoperability with third-party systems and SDKs
- Headless test runners for running tests on Windows, Mac and Linux
- Command-line tools for creating/testing/compiling your application
In addition to these tools, the Flutter framework has various features such as Hot Reload, which makes it possible to test your application prototype more quickly. Flutter is available on all operating systems (Windows, Mac and Linux) and even on virtual machines (Visual Studio Code and Android Studio).
Example of hot reload in action on Flutter. Source: GitHub
The framework is available on the GitHub platform, where it has already been starred more than 18,000 times. To find out about all of Flutter’s features, head to the official website by clicking here.
So how does Flutter compare with React Native?
According to some developer communities, Flutter’s architecture is almost similar to that of React. Nevertheless, there are several elements that set the two frameworks apart:
- Flutter has a large library of UI widgets, which is not the case with React
- Unlike React, Flutter does not use native widgets: this allows you to customise the look and feel of your graphical components as you wish
- Flutter has first-class support for WebStorm
- Dart makes it possible to produce very smooth animations/transitions of around 60 fps
- While React relies on the use of JSX as a templating engine, Flutter uses only the Dart language, which makes the code much more readable and understandable
Are you planning to create applications with this new framework? If you have already tried it, is it really faster than developing with other frameworks? Tell us in the comments, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this article, you can find other framework topics on our blog.
