In our previous articles, we have introduced the Flutter framework and Dart language and compared it to the most serious opponent – React Native. But there is still one concern left – will the framework be popular enough to secure the future of existing projects? What if Flutter community and support will not develop fast enough? There are at least a few reasons why we strongly believe the future is Flutter.
The structure and learning curve of the Dart language seems promising
Although Dart is still a niche, it is quite an easy language to learn and can be picked up by Kotlin or Java Developers. In fact, almost everyone with basic programming skills can try it. There are numerous pieces of evidence on the web (on the development forums or reddits) that people with no previous experience with Dart are now creating mobile apps using Flutter framework with ease.
Dart has also insanely good documentation. It is crucial when learning a new language, especially the open source one. Apart from that, the vast majority of framework components is handled by internal Google’s core development team which ensures consistency. That is why even if the Flutter community is still small, there is quite a big chance that it will grow fast.
| You may also be interested in: Flutter vs. React Native: A Comparison Why Choose Flutter? Pros & Cons Comparing Native, Hybrid & Web |
Flutter heavily focuses on fully custom UI
One thing great in Flutter is its flexibility in creating own components. The framework has almost every widget the developer might need for a native application, no matter if it is based on Android or iOS UI. But even if something is missing, there are still a lot of possibilities of creating custom widgets. This is extremely helpful when developing custom apps or “branded-apps” for bigger tech companies. That being said, Flutter should become one of the most common tools for mobile startups in the near future.
Flutter may pave the way for Fuchsia OS
Fuchsia OS is the capability-based operating system developed by Google that might replace Android. Although Flutter is not directly connected to Fuchsia, some features are inspired by it – like the custom widget creation used in Fuchsia’s Now Feed for example. In fact, making apps with Flutter is kind of one step forward ahead of the market. Why? Because iOS and Android apps made with Google’s framework are already Fuchsia-ready! So before the system is even released there will be lots of apps compatible with it – you may prepare for the future by choosing the right framework now.
Flutter makes programming faster and more efficient
As we have mentioned in the article about the pros and cons of choosing Flutter, the framework is currently one of the most efficient ways of developing cross-platform mobile apps. First and foremost, it introduces a stateful hot-reload, a feature that helps to test changes in the project almost in real-time, without recompiling or losing the state of the app. Lack of OEM widgets and no JavaScript bridge for reactive views ensures great app performance. And widget-based design, where all widgets are part of the project, not the platform, is a guarantee that apps made with Flutter will always be compatible with iOS and Android devices. It all sums up to faster time-to-market, which is an essential factor for young, hungry startups.
Flutter has a big, determined corporation behind it
Google is determined to establish Flutter as one of the best frameworks for mobile apps. That surely means a lot of support and development throughout the years to come. Google is doing everything to convince developers to use their framework, providing a unique experience, performance, the fastest time-to-market there is, and incredible documentation support. The best evidence of how meaningful the Flutter is for Google is that the company already uses it in some of the most important apps (business-wise) like Google Ads for example. There is no better way to demonstrate how much faith they put in their framework.
Summing up
To sum up, there is no doubt the future of Flutter is bright. More and more developers learn Dart; big e-commerce companies are not afraid of using it for their most important projects and Google is determined to develop the best framework there is.
The future is even more interesting when we consider the next mobile operating system, Fuchsia OS, that is slowly being cooked in Google’s labs. The state of the market might rapidly change when Google releases the new system, forcing all Android developers to become Flutter developers. That is where Flutter will shine the most.
There will be an interesting battle between two of the biggest tech enterprises in the world – assuming that Facebook will pick up the glove and make the effort of reconstructing React Native. But no matter what the result will be, the ones who benefit from it is us – developers and users of the mobile apps.
