Cross-platform development with Flutter allows for building apps that run on multiple operating systems and devices.
Flutter's layered architecture consists of the embedder, engine, and framework, providing developers with efficient tools for app development.
Widgets are the building blocks of Flutter, allowing for the creation of declarative UI components and high-performance user interfaces.
Deep dives
Cross-Platform Development and Flutter's History
Cross-platform development refers to writing software that can run on multiple operating systems or devices. In the case of Flutter, it means building apps that run on iOS and Android mobile devices, desktop platforms like Windows and MacOS, and even the web. Flutter and Dart, the programming language used for Flutter apps, originated from separate projects exploring web performance. Flutter allows developers to create user interfaces that can be easily adapted to different platforms, providing a consistent experience.
The Architecture of Flutter
Flutter is built with a layered architecture, consisting of several key components. At the bottom layer is the embedder, which sets up the application platform and handles interactions with the underlying operating system. The middle layer is the Flutter engine, written in C++, which manages rendering and compositing. On top of the engine is the Flutter framework, responsible for building the user interface and managing state. The framework is written in Dart and offers a wide range of widgets and tools for app development.
Challenges and Rewriting Google Pay with Flutter
Google Pay faced the challenge of merging different variants of its app and decided to explore the use of Flutter. Initially, they attempted an incremental migration but eventually chose to rewrite the entire app in Flutter due to the agility and speed of development it offered. The decision resulted in increased efficiency and faster feature development. As of now, Google Pay is in an open beta phase, showcasing the successful adoption of Flutter for a large-scale production app.
The Three Layers of Flutter
Flutter consists of three layers: the framework, the engine, and the platform-specific layer. The framework, written in Dart, is where developers work day-to-day and is responsible for representing the engine. It provides core developer primitives like animations and gestures. The engine, written in C and C++, is the native code that handles rendering elements on the screen at the right resolution and managing events. The platform-specific layer is written in languages like Java and Kotlin for Android and Objective-C for iOS, and it allows Flutter to communicate with the underlying platform.
Widgets and Element Trees in Flutter
Widgets are the building blocks of Flutter and serve as the unit of composition. Every component in Flutter is built using widgets. Widgets are declarative and represent different parts of the UI. An app in Flutter is constructed using a tree of widgets, where each widget corresponds to an element in the element tree. The element tree is responsible for translating widgets into render objects, which are the lowest level primitives that Flutter uses to render elements on the screen. The element tree is efficiently updated and rendered to maintain smooth, high-performance UI.
Tim Sneath, product management for Flutter and Dart at Google discusses what Flutter is, why it was created, where Dart came from, what the different layers of Flutter are, why it is so popular and why it makes a developers life much easier.
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