All the background research you need to get started with FLUTTER!!!
What is Flutter?
- Flutter is an open-source SDK (Software Development Kit) to build native apps by Google. Using which we can create apps for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows, Google Fuchsia, and the web from a single codebase.
Why Flutter? All the positive things about Flutter…
- Can be used for making native apps. And if you are new to app development you might wonder what native apps are in layman terms, native apps are coded for a specific operating system for example Apple iOS or Android OS.
- But the advantage of using Flutter for building native apps is there is only one code base, for both android and iOS. So to make any change and push it we wouldn’t be needing to dig into two different code reps to change.
- Great Layout and very responsive UI.
- Smooth experience while running apps.
- Integrates well and easily with Firebase.
- Great Documentation, easy to get started with, and continue learning.
- Uses Material Design.
- Uses Dart programming language, easy to pick up and learn.
What is Flutter made up of? — WIDGETS WIDGETS WIDGETS
- The app is basically a compilation of WIDGETS. So as long as you know your widgets, you are good to go.
- You can always use preexisting widgets or you can always use new widgets by creating them from scratch or modifying preexisting ones.
- Widgets have properties using which they can be completely personalized.
- And in turn, these properties can have values or other widgets in turn.
Lets’ visualize this to have a better grasp of it.
- Therefore as properties can have widgets which in turn can have other properties and the loop continues, it might form a tree structure. Therefore the app can also be summarized with its widget tree.
Lets’ visualize what a widget tree looks like…
A few commonly used widgets are as follows.
- Text Widget (properties include: style, textAlign, overflow, maxLines)
- Button Widget (color, elevation, disabledColor, enabled …)
- Row widget
- Column widget
That is all you need to know to get started, there are tons of tutorials online and the documentation of Flutter is on point and easy to read through and grasp. Welcome to the journey of becoming a Flutter developer, hope you have as much fun learning this new skill. I sure did. Feel free to comment your opinions and views.
Adieu!
