We love Flutter because it lives up to its promise to devs: build beautiful apps for any screen.
For startups and cross-platform mobile developers, Flutter is chock full o’ benefits — starting with reduced costs (it is free and open source). Even more so, Flutter is a native experience with a single codebase for both iOS and Android and offers quicker deployments and simultaneous app upgrades (plus so much more).
However, Flutter is not entirely painless. So, to optimize the Flutter experience, we discovered ways to level up your skills, so you can build with Flutter and enjoy its many benefits (without any of the pain).
1. Become fluent in Dart
Flutter, when paired with its native development language Dart, covers more development areas — so upping your Dart game is essential, which inevitably means you’ll up your Flutter game as well.
A language's portability and flexibility matters considerably from a developer's perspective. Who doesn't want to be able to write code and run it on as many platforms as possible? Dart helps you do that.
It’s also a flexible programming language. You can write code in Dart and run it anywhere without limit. Devs with minimal programming experience can quickly learn Dart, making building with Flutter seamless.
Similar in syntax to Java, C#, and JS, Dart is easy to learn and become fluent in. You can even write web apps with Dart and run that code on any browser.
Dart resources:
Whether you are a junior-level or senior-level dev, these Dart resources can help take your Flutter game to the next level.
- Flutter in Focus playlist. Flutter offers a playlist that takes you through asynchronous coding, Future objects, and Dart’s most basic API for async, including how to catch errors and handle data.
- Expert opinions. Bitrise published its key takeaways from the Flutter Global Summit '21. Part of what we found is that “the capabilities of Flutter, and Dart, are expanding rapidly.” Therefore the takeaways focused partly on Dart on the server and debugging with Dart DevTools. Don’t forget to check out Flutter Global Summit '23!
2. Practice test-driven development (TDD)
When you build with Flutter, you need two separate libraries to run pure Dart tests and Flutter tests — and they are not inter-compatible. Test-driven development (TDD) improves the quality of your code. Writing tests first demands that developers seek to eliminate ambiguity and define precisely what it is they aim to achieve.
Because “flutter test” will not run the tests written with the Dart test package, you need a separate command for it like “flutter pub run test” Additionally, “flutter test” does not run inside the submodules, and you would need to do that manually. TDD provides a solution to this problem because it focuses on testing from the first line of code.
Test resources
- Learn about clean architecture for testing. Check out the Flutter TDD Clean Architecture Course on YouTube to learn how to “employ clean architecture and test driven development”.
- Set up Flutter testing. Take this free Intro to Flutter course on YouTube to learn theory, Flutter set up, and more.
- Dart testing guide. This Dart testing guide covers different types of Dart testing for Flutter, web, and server-side apps and scripts.
- Flutter’s introduction to unit testing. Learn how to write Flutter unit tests and run them using IntelliJ or VSCode.
3. Join a challenge
Challenges that use real projects help devs improve their Flutter skills. For example, Flutter UI Challenges allow you to share your final product and get feedback from the Flutter community on Reddit. Reviewing other developers’ code while receiving feedback on yours is a great way to enhance and increase your Flutter skills and mobile builds.
This starter project from the Design2Flutter Reddit thread is a great way to try it for yourself.
Flutter UI design challenge resources:
- 21-day challenge. This challenge — Make Beautiful UI effortlessly | Flutter | 21 Days Challenge — demonstrates just how easy it could be to make a UI for your mobile applications. Flutter makes developing complex UI easy, and these challenges help you learn how to make attractive and expressive UIs from scratch.
- r/FlutterDev. Join the FlutterDev subreddit to stay apprised of build challenges and even more resources from other Flutter devs.
4. Learn from the Flutter community at conferences
One of the best ways to continue learning Flutter — regardless of your current skill level — is to learn directly from members of the Flutter community. Look for Flutter developers to follow that are up-to-date on industry trends and speak at conferences to share their Flutter knowledge.
Upcoming conferences to attend:
- Attend the sessions at Flutter Heros — an online and in-person Flutter conference in Turin, Italy. On February 23, 2023, Flutter Heros “provides a unique learning and networking opportunity for the community of developers, designers and project managers that work with Flutter.”
- Join the inaugural Mobile DevOps Summit by Bitrise on November 10, 2022. Gain insights about TDD and testing Flutter apps, Flutter DevOps, and more.
Leveling up for Bitrise+Flutter users
Teaming up with Bitrise means you can build Flutter apps for iOS and Android while using our out-of-the-box Flutter Steps to build, test, and deploy!
An SDK like Flutter deserves a mature CI (continuous integration) and delivery platform like Bitrise. With Bitrise, you can easily and quickly deploy your app to testers with Bitrise deploy and then send it straight to App Store Connect or TestFlight OR deploy it to other third parties, like Firebase and DeployGate.
Bitrise 💜Flutter resources:
- Quick Flutter Guide. First is our Quick and dirty guide to Flutter on Bitrise.
- Building on iOS? Try our step-by-step how-to: Build your Flutter app faster with M1.
- Dart Analyzer. We have highlighted the importance of learning Dart; at Bitrise, we have the Dart Analyzer. The Dart Analyzer conducts a static analysis of your Dart code, helping you fix issues before they happen.
- Flutter Resource Docs. From getting started to your first build to your integrations, we have a Flutter resource doc for you!
- Build and deploy Flutter Web apps for macOS, Linux, Firebase, or Amazon S3. These hands-on guides explain how to build and package Flutter desktop apps using Bitrise.
- Documentation about testing Flutter apps. Learn how to add Flutter tests to your Bitrise workflows.
TL;DR
There are a few things developers (from junior to senior) can do in general to improve their Flutter skills.
- Become a master in Dart. Dart is an easy language for developers (at any stage) to learn — but to truly level up your Flutter skills, you need to expand your knowledge of Dart.
- Employ test-driven development.
- Hone your skills by doing and challenging yourself.
- Consider building with Bitrise.
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