There are too many instances when people starting to use new development tools and technologies hesitate simply because they consider risking their prospects by stepping into a grey zone. Some may consider that a development framework is probably short-lived and can be soon replaced by a better update of the older and seasoned technology. 

app developers uk also experienced the same hesitation when confronted with the Flutter framework for the first time. This is mainly because Flutter arrived in the market in the heyday of React Native app development. But over the last few years, Flutter went past every competitor and became the most loved framework for cross-platform app development. 

What makes Flutter so special in the present state of app development? Why do developers choose Flutter for app development in 2022? We are going to explain the key reasons after giving a small introduction to the Flutter framework. 

What is Flutter?

Flutter is an open-source, cross-platform development framework that can be used for building apps for iOS, Android, web, and desktop platforms such as Windows, Linux, and macOS. The best thing about Flutter is that the same code can be used for all these platforms without compromising the native user experience and performance. 

Let’s briefly point out some key features and attributes of Flutter. 

    • Flutter uses Dart programming language. 

    • Flutter is a highly modular framework with ample scope of incremental value additions. 

    • Flutter offers a vast repository of UI widgets to shape the user interface and user experience per native standards. 

    • Flutter supports all major IDEs for development. 

    • Flutter offers inbuilt testing and debugging tool support. 

    • Flutter doesn’t need a JavaScript bridge to connect to the native UI layer. It achieves native UI through widgets. 

    • Flutter offers ready support for backend development through Google Firebase. 

    • Flutter provides a Hot Reload feature for fast-paced development and testing. 

Why should developers choose Flutter? 

The above-mentioned features and capabilities indicate that Flutter is a flexible, scalable, and developer-friendly framework. But to understand why businesses prefer to hire dedicated Flutter developers for their app projects, we need to go deeper. Here are some reasons for app projects to consider the Flutter framework. 

Hot Reload ensures faster development and testing. 

Flutter allows faster development than most other frameworks simply because it is modular in nature. The Hot Reload feature will enable developers to make changes in the running app without needing to refresh and reload an app. 

Just instantly, developers can see the effects of the changes done in the app code. Thanks to this hot reload feature, developers can experiment with UI development and add and alter features. The bug tester and QA team also experience flexibility and ease because of this feature. 

Expressive UI development 

Flutter comes with advanced UI building features allowing to create aesthetically beautiful apps with expressive controls over every single pixel and UI element visible on the screen. It comes with a rich repository of widgets for incorporating different fonts, animated videos, graphics, and many more. 

Top-notch performance 

When performance is a crucial consideration, the Flutter framework easily emerges as the winner. Flutter is exceptionally lightweight, and its programming language can easily communicate with a different range of native components. Because of using widgets for UI development, 

Flutter does not need to depend on a third-party JavaScript bridge. This ultimately sums up the capabilities of Flutter in developing all sizes of apps without compromising on quality. 

The power of Dart 

Dart programming language developed and maintained by Google for internal uses has been launched with Flutter, and the framework quickly rose to its deserving fame and reputation in a quick time simply because of its simplicity, low code footprint, and customization capabilities. Offering a lot of similarities with C++, Dart can be very effective for high-performance and low-footprint apps. 

Ease of learning 

Let’s agree on a widely acclaimed point that React Native is comparatively more complex than Flutter. This is primarily because React Native lacks sound and extensive documentation, whereas Flutter is known for its meticulous documentation. 

Whenever a developer wants to start with a fresh new language, the power of Dart becomes apparent. Dart is mostly a less-coding-based language that also reduces the time of the project. Because of its modular character, making subsequent value additions with the app is extremely important. Lesser development time always results in lower costs and, consequently, more competitive advantages.

Flutter is an MVP-ready framework. 

These days app projects test the water of competition before going fully fledged. A Minimum viable product or MVP appearing with basic features can be developed further with more changes and value additions. 

Since app development cost is steadily increasing all over the globe, no app business can now afford to spend the budget on course corrections and remedies. This is why building an MVP app is better and cost-efficient. Flutter perfectly fits into this MVP development approach. 

Out-of-the-box Testing Support

Another crucial reason developers choose Flutter is it’s fully equipped with testing and debugging tools and Firebase backend support. A quality testing framework within Flutter allows smooth UI, unit, load, and integration tests. Whether you are building a cross-platform or native app, Flutter offers robust out-of-the-box support for all testing and QA requirements. 

Over To You 

Is everything with Flutter rosy and spotless? No, there are also several disadvantages and shortcomings that Flutter comes with. The framework is still not mature enough and has a smaller community than most other frameworks. But since it has started gaining momentum now because of its core capabilities and features, Flutter will stay ahead of all cross-platform technologies in the future. 

Article by Nathan McKinley

Submit your guest post