Flutter is an open-source technology developed by Google. It helps you build mobile, desktop, and web applications using a single codebase. Flutter is considered as an SDK – Software Development Kit but not as a framework or library. Moreover, it offers both SDK and its widget-based UI library.
In a nutshell, Flutter is a UI toolkit created by Google for developing cross-platform mobile applications for multiple devices from a single code base.
Library: It consists of various reusable UI elements, like sliders, buttons, codes, and text input that you may use in your application to execute a certain common function.
Framework: It’s a structure or architecture of an application. However, it consists of various tools that form an app’s foundation, requiring you to write the code to finish the entire structure and achieve the desired results.
SDK: It’s a collection of various tools, such as libraries, documentation, APIs, frameworks, and many more, offering you all the needs for your software development.
Therefore, Flutter app development comes up with everything necessary to develop cross-platform applications.
In fact, you can also use other cross-platform development tools to develop apps that work seamlessly across multiple platforms.
So, now the question is, what makes Flutter a stand-alone technology? Let’s go further.
Flutter SDK
Flutter SDK comes up with a rendering engine, testing & integration APIs, and ready-to-use widgets.
We can see in the below image that the architecture layer of Flutter consists of various components. So, let’s understand it and how it works in general.
The main architectural layers are divided into three different categories. Let’s go from the bottom to the top.
Embedder: It uses a platform-specific language, allowing the application to execute on any platform or operating system.
Engine: Written in C/C++, an engine implements the Flutter core APIs at a low level. Graphics (via the Skia 2D graphics library), text layout, file, and network I/O, accessibility support, plugin architecture, and a Dart runtime and compilation toolchain are all part of the engine.
Framework: Flutter framework is based on the Dart programming language. Also, it provides a comprehensive set of libraries, which are divided into four categories.
- Basic Foundational Classes
- Rendering Layer
- Widgets Layer
- Material and Cupertino Libraries
Flutter uses the Dart programming language for writing the code. Dart is a client-optimized, object-oriented programming language created by Google. The native code in the Dart language can be compiled for mobile, desktop, and JavaScript. The best part is that it doesn’t require an additional bridge to connect with the platform because of the direct compilation. This leaves a great impact on the overall performance of the app and startup time.
With its declarative UI writing, the approach of Flutter app development is quite different from others. The primary goal of Flutter is that it allows developers to build the entire user interface by combining different widgets.
Widgets are important elements of the user interface for Android, iOS, and traditional web apps that adhere to the design guidelines. There are several app nested widgets in the app interface, which can be any object. This applies to everything from buttons to padding, and the developer can use widgets to personalize the app. In addition, it also enables you to edit the existing widget and create your own.
Flutter makes a clear way for testing also. It provides an automated testing toolset for its different types of testing, such as unit test, widget test, and integration test. you can access a detailed tutorial here.
Besides, with the fastlane tool, Flutter supports Continuous Delivery. Fastlane is a free platform that integrates Flutter with popular Continuous Integration (CI) tools like Jenkins, Cirrus, and Travis. Further, you can read on its official page – continuous delivery with Flutter.
Flutter DevTools is a debugging tool for Dart and Flutter. It’s used to analyze performance, debug apps, and inspect layout.
