What are the features of Flutter?
Google introduced Flutter in May 2017. Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit used to create applications for both Android and iOS. Instead of writing different code for each operating system, it uses the same code base to create a cross-platform mobile application. Dart is the programming language used to create Flutter applications.
Features
Some features of Flutter include:
- Hot reload
- Cross-platform development
- Widget library
- Native performance
- Open-source
1. Hot reload
Hot reload makes it possible to see the changes in the code instantly reflected on the UI. This speeds up the process to work on the outlook of the application; moreover, it enables developers to correct errors that save cost and effort.
2. Cross-platform development
Flutter enables developers to write code that works on different platforms. Two different applications can use the same codebase. In addition to sharing the UI code, the UI itself is also shareable. This makes maintenance of the single codebase much easier as opposed to different codes for different platforms.
3. Widget library
Everything in Flutter is defined as a widget. A widget can be a color, padding, or menu. Flutter is capable of creating complex widgets that can be customized according to the requirement of the application. Built-in widgets are also available for usage. Some examples include Cupertino pack and Material Design, which have sets of widgets that provide a glitch-free user experience.
4. Native Performance
In Flutter, platform-specific widgets are provided for Google Fuchsia, Android, and iOS. These widgets can be integrated into the Flutter application to make use of the different platform-dependent functionalities. Existing Java, Swift, and Objective-C codes can be used to utilize native features such as camera and geolocation. Therefore, Flutter can easily incorporate third-party integrations and APIs.
5. Open-source
Google introduced Flutter as an open-source platform. Various design options can be explored by developers to create Flutter applications. User-friendly applications can be created with Material Design and Cupertino widgets. Flutter Form is a community of Flutter enthusiasts who come together to answer questions related to Flutter and discuss it. Flutter is free of cost and has detailed documentation and communities available online.
Flutter 2
Flutter 2 was released on 3rd March 2021. Apart from the already existing features, it contains more features. Now, the same code base can be used to deploy Flutter applications on Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux. Browsers such as Safari, Edge, Chrome, and Firefox are also supported. Flutter applications cannot only run on mobile, they can also be deployed on the web and be used as desktop applications with the same codebase.
