Why Flutter Is An Ideal Choice For Cross-Platform App Development

Introduction

There are a ton of programming languages that contribute to building the software solutions we use today whether it’s Facebook one uses to socialize or the food delivery app that allows you to order your favourite cuisine. 

Coding allows one to map their businesses on an “Anytime-Anywhere” accessible platform we know as mobile applications. The technological revolution has obliged businesses worldwide to indulge in exploring the world of programming strenuously.

The advent of programming languages like Android and iOS has given a chance for businesses to widen their customer reach. Yet the idea of how programming languages work is still alien to a larger part of the crowd. 

There are a ton of programming languages that contribute to building the software solutions we use today whether it’s Facebook one uses to socialize or the food delivery app that allows you to order your favourite cuisine. #Flutter Click To Tweet

Android applications can be designed using Java. While iOS apps can be built using Objective C and Swift. ‘Flutter’ is a relatively new language that has joined this coding game.

What is Flutter & How does it Work?

There are designated developers who develop mobile applications for a particular platform. For example, a developer who works on Java to make an app for Androids won’t perceive the knowledge on how to build the same app for an iOS device. 

This raises a limitation as well as an opportunity. Google spotted this limitation and introduced Flutter as a cross-platform app development language in December 2017. It allows one to write a uni-code that works the same for Android and iOS devices.

This works as a game-changer, as now, one doesn’t have to write tons of lines of code separately for android and iOS devices. A separate code for different devices equates to double the hard work. 

Not only while programming but while providing for updates or fixing bugs one has to compulsorily write and upload separate code.

Let’s understand how Flutter eases the coding process.

Why is Flutter an Ideal Choice for 2020 App Development?

With Flutter, Google aimed to create a coding platform that would allow developers to create apps intelligently. It possesses the tools that can be used to create exquisite designs that work on different devices.

When one designs an app it is a task to write efficient code for your app that fits all the screen sizes and aspect ratio of various android and iOS devices. If one manages to write efficient code for android devices, they still have to write the same for iOS devices. This becomes a tedious and cumbersome task.

Flutter, being a toolkit allows one to design beautiful interfaces for different devices and screen sizes. It also offers a huge set of widgets that makes the coding process easy. The ‘Hot Reload’ feature inculcates changes and demonstrates them on a blank screen immediately.

With Flutter, Google aimed to create a coding platform that would allow developers to create apps intelligently. It possesses the tools that can be used to create exquisite designs that work on different devices. #Flutter Click To Tweet

What is a Widget & How do they help ease Coding?

1.   Everything you see on a screen while using Flutter is a widget. A widget can be used in the following ways:

• A way to structure elements like a menu or a button.
• A stylistic element to change fonts or color schemes.
• To add a layout aspect like padding. 

2.   A whole bunch of pre-built widgets allows coders to design their app with interesting designs. The widgets function best due to the Functional Reactive Programming Style. 

We learned above that the widgets make use of the functional reactive programming style. This feature helps Flutter determine which parts of UI have changed. A change in code will determine immediate change on your app screen. Using this efficiently a programmer can change the app data and code as many times and leave Flutter to rebuild the app.

3.   Apart from this, Flutter has a lavish collection of pre-made material & Cupertino widgets. These can be customized as per the coder’s convenience so one doesn’t need to make a widget from scratch.

4.   The widgets are designed in a way that they play the part for each platform. For example, the preceding mention of how a widget can be used can be seen in the following image. This feature makes the user believe that the app was built natively.

5.    One can create an anywhere-deployable app by plugging and customizing these widgets.

How is Flutter Different from React-Native?

Let’s understand in brief how Flutter works internally and how it serves the programmer differently than other cross-platform apps like the React Native. 

• Flutter has built its programming language that goes by the name ‘Dart’. And a rendering engine that is built mostly using C++. (A rendering engine is a software that helps draw texts and images on the screen.)
• React Native makes use of Javascript, CSS, and HTML.
• Flutter is alien to all the tech stacks that are popularly used on the internet. For example, React Native allows using components from a third-party while components in Flutter are designed by the Google team.
• Flutter is also a very well documented language as compared to React Native.

Why has Flutter gained sudden Popularity?

Summarizing the above information let’s learn the USP of Flutter and the reason for its widespread popularity.

• Flutter delivers “High-Performance Apps” through its powerful rendering engine.
• The ‘Hot Reload’ feature rapidly reloads the code on a running app.
• It’s way more cost-effective than building native apps. It makes managing the codebase easier and as a result, one requires a small development team.
• The app designed using Flutter can be deployed on any Android and iOS device irrespective of their screen size.
• Flutter has a predictable, smooth, and fast UI.
• Programming using Flutter is a fun coding experience.

Are you inclined to extend your business online? Allow us to present you with a demo on how that can be made possible in the simplest possible manner.

Author bio:

Mr. Sanjay Rajpurohit has always been a venturer. An engineer who became an early aged entrepreneur. He shares his time between his On Demand App Development and other ventures named Technource, Eminent Academy, and Tuitment and is still exploring the world of software technologies.