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If you have witnessed the most famous musical broadway, The Hamilton – An American Musical live, you would agree that it is something not to be missed at all! All the actors perform with such sheer brilliance and fluidity. You would be surprised to know that they have a mobile application called, Hamilton, which gives you access to all things Hamilton!
So why on earth are we talking about a musical here? As amazing the show is, it is equally amazing to know that the Hamilton app was the first major app developed with Flutter, and astounded by its tremendous performance, the owners called it as an Excellent choice for Beautiful, High- performance and brand-driven revolutionary App.
What is Flutter?
Flutter, the product of Google which was released on 4th December 2018, has fluttered the app development market, leaving the other cross-platform app development frameworks behind. Initially, just like the other frameworks, Flutter was restricted to mobile (Android and iOS) app development, but now with the technological advancement, Flutter has extended its limits to web and desktop too, allowing you to develop applications for android, iOS, web, and desktop, with a single codebase.
According to a Statista report, among the various cross-platform application development frameworks available in the market, the only framework whose demand is consistently rising and has hiked in 2020 is Flutter. Though React Native is still at the top, however, consistent and the other framework observed a downfall.
Similarities between Flutter and other Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
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Single Codebase
A cross-platform app development framework works on the idea of Write Once Run Anywhere (WORA), enabling the developer to develop applications for multiple platforms with a single codebase. This liberates the developers and the proprietors to develop the same application again for a different platform, instead, the framework converts it automatically, reducing the app development time and cost.
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Fast compilation
Developing an application that is compatible with multiple OS is a critical task, requiring a framework to be capable of compiling the application code to the native code in the appropriate time frame as well as abiding the syntaxes of both the platforms. With the help of AOT (Ahead Of Time) and JIT (Just in Time) compilers, Flutter succeeds to compile the applications at a comparatively faster speed, resulting in higher performance.
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Maintainable code
Along with coding strategies for two different operating systems, there should be a wider testing scope as well, that should cover various testing criteria relevant to the operating systems. The framework should provide support for code maintenance and testing for different platforms.
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Effective UI Rendering
One of the most important features of a cross-platform app development framework is effective UI Rendering. The framework should be able to create an effective UI rendering for both the platforms, that is the UI components of the application should render properly and appear similar on each platform.
Looking for a detailed comparison between the most popular cross-platform app development frameworks, Check this out-
Why is Flutter considered as the most promising Cross-Platform App Development Framework in the market?
Though various cross-platform app development frameworks that have made their place in the market and are performing well, however, the difficulties like slow app performance, UI rendering, look and feel of the app on distinct platforms, and testing and development challenges, cannot be avoided either.
Considering the issues and challenges, Google introduced a one-fit-for-all solution, Flutter, that creates beautiful as well as natively compiled applications for all the platforms from the same codebase.
Flutter works on the latest language Dart and can also be used in the existing applications, liberating you from developing your existing application from scratch. Flutter, along with the basic feature of Cross-platform development, is also equipped with some of the unique and outstanding features that have not only level up the app development process but have also added quality and efficacy to the app performance.
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1. Widgets
Before Flutter, the only way to make your app native, you had to use OEM (original equipment manufacturer) widgets that are already present in the mobile devices. The use of OEM widgets in the application affects the look and feel of the application.
For Example, the tab bar in iOS is placed at the bottom of the screen and in the Android, at the top, which reflects in the application as well. Flutter does not use the OEM widgets rather comes with its own widgets library, rendered by the framework and engine i.e. Skia, which is one of the major reasons behind its tremendous performance.
Widget is the most talked about feature of Flutter, which along with a rich set of UI widgets for both Android (Material Design) and iOS (Cupertino), also allows you to create your widgets as well. In Futter, you have widgets for everything, like for page layout you have Row, Column, for the animation you have AnimatedBuilder, and so on. Widgets make it easier to develop a complex UI, enabling you to have full control over the UI of your application.
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2. Pixel Rendering
The use of its widgets works miraculously for the UI of the applications, delivering a great Pixel rendering on the screen. Flutter ensures the same look of the application UI on all the devices i.e, Android, and iOS, regardless of their version and configurations, making your application Pixel-perfect.
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3. Stateful Hot reload
The idea of Hot reload is no more an alien thing. A similar idea has been used in the React Native (Fast Refresh) and Xamarin.forms, which means you can make the changes to your application while it is running, without the need to recompile or restart it. However, the difference in the implementation can only be observed, when it is used.
The Hot Reload facility offered by the Flutter is way more speedy than the other frameworks as the updated source code id injected directly to the running Dart Virtual machine – built in the debug mode to run dart code. In Flutter, the reload is Stateful, that is the complete state of the application on which the change is made is preserved. So whether the state is nested deeply within the app, you need not start from the home screen, rather you can resume from the same state.
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4. Performance
Being based on Dart language, using UI widgets, and 2D rendering engine i.e Skia, the performance of Flutters excels in performance in comparison to the other frameworks. Flutter, due to the fast compilation of Dart, performs well with a processing speed of 60 to 120 frames per second. Unlike other frameworks, Flutter does not require any bridge to interact with the native elements as it has everything like, widgets and libraries, in the engine itself, which eventually reduces the process cycle, hence improves the performance.
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5. Easy Upgradation
To enhance the performance and deliver quality the companies keep on upgrading their products and services, so is the case with the platforms(Android and iOS) and each up-gradation requires you to update your application as well. Flutter, with amazing backward compatibility because of the use of widgets, facilitates easier up-gradation without compromising with the App performance.
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6. Fuchsia- The New Member of Google’s Family
Firstly Dart, then Flutter, and now Fuschia – the new and most powerful operating system developed by Google. Flutter has been gaining popularity since its release, is going to take over the market very soon and so is expected from the upcoming product of Google – Fuchsia. As the apps and UI of Fuchsia are developed with Flutter, Fuchsia is highly dependent on the framework, expanding the scope for the App developers.
Take-Away
Flutter is growing and how. With exceptional features, the top companies like eBay, Groupon, Tencent, Square are already using it. For building up a cross-platform application for your business, the most significant thing to make it work is the ingenuity of developers creating it which is brought in by Flutter.
If you are willing to develop a highly-functional cross-platform application with an incredible user interface for your business, reach out to Top Flutter App Development Company, which can bring the best out of the framework. Having delivered numerous Flutter applications, our developers will help you to develop an application that stands out in the market as well as reflects your brand at its best. So, without further ado Hire a Flutter developer and be the new black in the app market just like Flutter.
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