Introduction to Flutter
Introduction to Flutter Overview
Flutter is Google’s open-source UI toolkit for building natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. It uses the Dart programming language and provides a rich set of customizable widgets for creating beautiful, fast applications with productive developer workflows.
Key Concepts
1. What is Flutter?
- Cross-platform development framework
- Uses Dart programming language
- Widget-based UI architecture
- Skia rendering engine
2. Why Use Flutter?
- Single codebase for multiple platforms
- High performance (native compilation)
- Hot reload for rapid development
- Rich widget library
3. Installing Flutter SDK
- Platform-specific installation
- Flutter doctor diagnostics
- Channel management (stable/beta/dev)
4. Setting Up Development Environment
- IDE setup (VS Code/Android Studio)
- Emulator configuration
- Device debugging setup
5. Creating a New Flutter Project
- Using
flutter create
- Project templates
- Package naming conventions
6. Understanding Flutter Project Structure
- lib/ directory organization
- Pubspec.yaml configuration
- Platform-specific folders
7. Running Your First Flutter App
- Default counter app
- Platform simulator/emulator
- Physical device testing
8. Hot Reload vs Hot Restart
- State preservation comparison
- Use cases for each
- Performance characteristics