Flutter Developer 101: Essential Steps to Start Your Career

Dart

To fully understand Flutter, you need to understand Dart first. Google created Dart, an object-oriented, general-purpose, open-source programming language with a syntax akin to C, in 2011. Dart programming is used to develop front-end user interfaces for mobile and online applications. If you are unsure of where to start, you can start from Dart’s guide. Do pay a bit more attention to the following concepts to fully master the Dart programming language:

• Object-oriented: Dart focuses on creating reusable code through concepts like classes, objects, inheritance, and polymorphism, allowing developers to structure their code modularly.
• Asynchronous programming: Simply put, developers can work on multiple projects at once without interfering with the execution of other programs. This increases the responsiveness and efficiency of applications when managing file operations, network requests, and user interactions.
• Multi-platform support: Dart is a versatile tool that supports multiple platforms, allowing developers to create and deploy applications across different devices and platforms.

Material Design Concept

Google developed the Material Design System to assist teams in producing high-caliber digital experiences for the web, iOS, Android, and Flutter. Like most design systems, a material design system was created to give users a consistent user experience on various devices, platforms, and input methods. The document provides a comprehensive guideline on typography, space, color, imagery, grids, and so on.

Many find the structure it provides comforting and useful. Despite the detailed rules and guidelines, it provides users with flexibility in implementing such design principles.

Flutter’s Widgets

Widgets are an integral part of Flutter. They’re the basic building blocks of an app’s UI, used to construct the user’s interface and app’s function.

There are two crucial types of widgets: StatelessWidget and StatefulWidget. Stateless widgets show the same thing every time based on the input they get, like buttons and labels. Stateful widgets can change what they show based on user actions or events, like forms and lists.

Learn State Management

State management in Flutter, and Dart, is all about tracking the data that the app uses and how it ends up showing on the screen. Simply put, you need to know where the data is, and which data can change, to manage them effectively. Changes in the state are reflected in the UI.

There are several ways to keep track of states in Flutter, such as Bloc, Provider, or Riverpod – each provides a range of benefits and some drawbacks.

Refer to Flutter’s state management guide to understand these concepts better.

Choose Project Architecture

You will often find complex UI trees in Flutter. Hence, developers need to be mindful of how codes are organized in the project. MVC (Model - View - Controller), MVP (Model - View - Presenter), MVVM (Model - View – View - Model), and Clean Architecture are some popular architectures to choose from. Again, each structure holds its benefits and trade-offs. It often comes down to the project’s requirements and goals. Combined with state management styles, you’ll find the most suitable approach for your project.

Learn API Calls

The API call is another skill you need to master. API stands for application programming interfaces. API is a software-to-software interface, meaning the means for applications to connect and access other businesses’ data like software or code.

There are several ways to make an API call: HTTP, dio, or chopper packages. The most basic package is HTTP, and we advise you to start with this one.

Database Integration

Flutter offers a variety of methods to integrate databases. Database integration refers to the process where data from various sources are centralized in a single data storage. Flutter developers have several options to go about this, including SQFLite, Hive, and Moor.

Database integration is essential for modern apps to handle user’s needs efficiently.

Study Flutter Conversion Guides

This step is essential for developers who have had experience in other mobile development frameworks and are transitioning to Flutter. Flutters’ documentation has a great section that refers to how aspects of a particular platform can be implemented in Flutter. Many have found From another platform? to be particularly useful.

Suggested Resources to Level up Your Skills

In addition to the Flutter guide and documentation, here are more resources you can look up to advance your skills as a Flutter developer:

YouTube

This might be one of the most powerful free resources you can access. There are a lot of amazing channels out there, but we recommend the following 3:

• The Boring Flutter Development Show: A fun way to learn Flutter, this YouTube show from Google allows you to see developers from Google struggle and learn from mistakes.
• Flutter in Focus: This YouTube Channel is a great resource for beginner Flutter developers. Each video is bite-sized, around 10 minutes long.
• HeyFlutter.com: Behind this channel is Johannes Milke, a developer based in Germany who spends a lot of time explaining how to develop apps that are similar to the ones similar to the ones existing on the market.

Websites

In addition to videos, there are websites dedicated to Flutter guides.

• Code with Andrea: This website offers its users well-written articles, tutorials, and courses.
• Tim Sneath: Tim Sneath used to run Flutter and Dart at Google before joining Apple. His blogs provide an excellent insight into the framework.
• Flutter Awesome: This page has some of the best codes and libraries for beginners and professionals alike.