Choosing the Right Approach

Overview

As GetX provides many options for state management, choosing the right approach is important. Now the approach we choose depends on a variety of aspects. In this lesson, we’ll go through each approach and discuss the scenarios for using it.

GetBuilder

1. Simpler implementation: GetBuilder uses internal callbacks to update the state, and it cannot get any simpler than that.

2. Performant: The simple implementation results in performance. If all you care about is the app’s performance, use GetBuilder without thinking twice.

3. Refined control: Since we manually update the widgets, we get refined control over which widgets to update and when to update them.

4. A ton of options: GetBuilder has the most options of any approach. We get life cycle controls, tags, filtered rebuilds, etc.

GetX

1. Reactive approach: GetX uses streams under the hood. If we wish to work with streams, then GetX is the approach we should take.

2. Similar to GetBuilder: The syntax and the options provided by GetX are similar to GetBuilder. So, we get the best of both worlds—the power of streams and the control of GetBuilder.

3. Listens to a single stream: GetX listens and reacts to a single stream. So if we want to listen to multiple streams, we should not use GetX.

Obx

1. Simpler syntax: Obx has minimal syntax, which makes it easier to use. If we don’t want many options and just want the state to update automatically, we use Obx.

2. Listen to multiple streams: Need to listen to multiple streams from a single widget? Use Obx. It is the only widget that allows us to do so.

3. No internal dependency management: With Obx, we need to inject and manage dependencies manually.

MixinBuilder

1. Never use it: It’s a heavy widget composed of GetBuilder and Obx. There’s no strong reason to use it.

2. Create your own: If you still wish to use it, create your own composition of GetBuilder and Obx because that provides more flexibility.

StateMixin

1. Define controller state: StateMixin allows us to define the controller’s state. The state can be loading, success, error, etc. This feature is notably helpful when writing REST API functions.

2. Handle states automatically: We get the append method that handles the loading, success, and error states internally, so we don’t have to worry about that.

3. Manual widget rebuilds: We update the state and rebuild widgets manually using the change method. This translates to finer control over state changes.

ValueBuilder

1. Internal state management: ValueBuilder manages internal states without explicitly defining variables and methods in a controller.

2. Manual state change: ValueBuilder provides the updater callback, which we use to notify the widget about the state change.

3. Lifecycle controls: We get to control what happens when the widget state is changed or when the widget is disposed of.

ObxValue

1. Simpler syntax: Just as Obx provides simpler syntax compared to the GetBuilder, ObxValue has simpler syntax compared to the ValueBuilder.

2. Reactive: The data parameter provided by ObxValue is actually a stream and can be used like one. We can actively listen to it and react to the events.

3. Fewer options: Widgets update automatically whenever the data stream receives a new value. This means we do not get to decide when the widget should actually be rebuilt.

Conclusion

Each state management approach in GetX offers a unique set of features, each with its own pros and cons. Consider this lesson a summary of the entire GetX state management, and use it as a reference guide when you are confused about which approach to choose.