This example fetches data from a mock API using asynchronous programming.
Lack of native widgets
The fact that Flutter doesn’t use native widgets can be an advantage, but also a drawback of this SDK. Why? Because if you decide to build an app using the Flutter framework, and then a new version of iOS or Android is launched, then your app will not update to the newest UI changes. This case scenario requires you to update a library (which is fast), rebuild an app, and then publish its new version in app stores. On the other hand, using Flutter widgets, you are sure that what the app you publish in app stores won’t change without you knowing about it. Thus, you won’t be surprised that a new OS version changes something in an app.
Not many experienced Flutter developers
There are still relatively few experienced Flutter developers on the market. That’s why it can be harder to build a team of seasoned professionals if you choose Flutter over React Native.
Lack of more advanced features
Flutter is still missing some more advanced features and might not be the best solution for more sophisticated apps:
Experimentation phase
Flutter is still a relatively new platform which comes with its own set of issues. It’s still under constant development, so some edge cases might not have solutions that are ready for implementation. We will see whether that’s going to change soon enough, but you might want to wait till then to use Flutter if you’re not ready for more risk compared to developing a product with a more established toolkit.
Cons of Flutter
Flutter also has downsides that you shouldn’t overlook when choosing your SDK.
Object-Oriented Programming
This example demonstrates a simple inventory management system.
Shorter Testing Process
Flutter, a leading framework for mobile app development, presents a distinct advantage that streamlines the testing process. The cross-platform nature of Flutter apps, utilizing a single codebase for both Android and iOS, translates to a reduced testing burden. Unlike traditional native app development, where separate testing is required for each platform, Flutter developers can perform comprehensive testing once. This efficiency not only cuts down testing time but also minimizes the chances of encountering platform-specific issues. By harnessing Flutter’s streamlined testing process, you can ensure quicker releases, lower testing costs, and a more consistent user experience across diverse devices.
Testing
Testing is an activity, which is used for verifying and validating a software or application that is bug-free and meets the user requirements. It ensures that the actual result matches the expected result. It also helps to improve the software or application in terms of efficiency, usability, and accuracy. Testing is one of the most important phases in the application development life cycle to ensure the application is of high quality. It is the most consuming phase in the application or software development. Flutter framework provides excellent support for the automated testing of an application. Generally, automated testing categorizes into three types to completely test an application. They are as follows: Unit Testing It is the easiest method for testing an application or software. It tests a single function, method, or class. The goal of unit testing is to ensure the correctness of code under a variety of conditions. Generally, unit testing does not interact with user input, render on the screen, read or write data from the disk, and do not use external dependencies by default. When you use external dependencies, they are mocked out with packages like Mockito. Widget Testing Widget testing is used to tests a single widget. The goal of this testing is to ensure that the widget’s UI looks and interacts with other widgets as expected. The process of widget testing is similar to unit testing, but it is more comprehensive than a unit test. This testing involves multiple classes and requires a test environment to find more bugs. A widget, which is being tested, can receive and responds to user actions and events and able to instantiates the child widgets. Integration Testing An integration testing involves both the above testing along with the external components of the application. It validates a complete app or a large part of the app. The purpose of integration testing is to ensure that all the widgets and services work together as expected. It can also use to verify the app’s performance. Generally, integration testing runs on real devices such as Android emulator or iOS simulator. The trade-offs between different type of testing are given below: Unit Testing Widget Testing Integration Testing Confidence Low Higher Highest Maintenance Cost Low Higher Highest Dependencies Few More Most Execution Speed Quick Quick Slow We know that, in Flutter, everything is a widget. So, here, we are going to discuss the widget testing in detail. Introduction to Widget Testing In widget testing, you need some additional tools provided by the flutter_test package. This package provides the following tools to test the widget. Let us learn how all of the above fit together with the following steps: Step 1: Add the flutter_test dependency. In the first step, we need to add a flutter_test dependency in the pubspec.yaml file. By default, it is already added to the dependency section. Step 2: Create a widget to test. Next, we have to create a widget for performing testing. The below code snippet creates a widget which contains title and message to display on the screen. Step 3: Create a testWidgets test. To test the widget, use testWidget() method. This method allows us to define a test and accept two arguments: test description and test code. It also creates a WidgetTester to work with the widget. The following code verifies that MyAppWidget displays the title and message. Step 4: Build the widget using the WidgetTester. The WidgetTester provides a pumpWidget() method to build and render the provided widget. It creates the instance of MyAppWidget that displays The ‘Ti’ and ‘Msg’ as the title and message, respectively. The following code explains it more clearly. Step 5: Search for the widget using a Finder. In this step, we will use the Finder class to search the widget tree for the title and message. It allows us to verify that the widget is displayed correctly. To do this, we need to use the find.text() method. Step 6: Verify the widget using a Matcher. Finally, we need to verify the text message appears on the screen by using the Matcher class. It ensures that the widget appears on the screen exactly once. We can see the following code to understand it. Now, we will see the working example to understand the concept of widget testing. First, create a project in Android Studio and navigate to the test folder of the project directory. Now, open the widget_test.dart file and replace the following code: To perform testing, go to the Run menu and select the “test in widget_test.dart” option. It will run the test and give the result as the following screen:
Hot Reload Feature
One of the standout advantages of Flutter app development is its powerful “hot reload” feature. This functionality enables developers to witness real-time updates in their app without the need to restart it entirely. Compared to similar functions in competing frameworks like React Native and Xamarin, Flutter’s hot reload stands out due to its remarkable speed. This feature significantly accelerates the development process, allowing developers to swiftly iterate, test, and fine-tune their code. As a result, Flutter developers experience enhanced productivity, shortened feedback loops, and the ability to swiftly address issues – making Flutter an ideal choice for agile and dynamic development environments.