How does Flutter work under the hood?
Flutter is a mobile app development framework developed by Google. It allows developers to build native-like mobile apps for iOS and Android using a single codebase. In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at how Flutter works under the hood.
The first thing to understand about Flutter is that it uses the Dart programming language. Dart is a modern, object-oriented language that is designed to be easy to learn and use. It is also compiled ahead of time (AOT) into native machine code, which allows Flutter apps to run smoothly and efficiently on the device.
In addition to the Dart language, Flutter includes a number of core libraries and frameworks that provide the building blocks for creating mobile apps. These include the Flutter framework, which provides a high-level, declarative API for building the app's user interface, as well as core libraries for things like networking, databases, and accessing device capabilities.
One of the key features of Flutter is its proprietary rendering engine, which is used to render the app's user interface. This rendering engine is built on top of the Skia graphics library, which allows it to render complex, high-quality graphics with smooth, consistent performance.
When the app is run, the Flutter framework takes care of managing the app's state and rendering the user interface. This allows developers to focus on building the app's functionality and business logic, rather than worrying about the underlying details of how the app is rendered on the screen.
In addition to the rendering engine, Flutter also includes a number of built-in widgets that can be used to build common mobile app elements such as buttons, lists, and forms. These widgets are designed to be customizable and easy to use, and they provide a consistent look and feel across both iOS and Android.
Another key feature of Flutter is its hot reloading functionality, which allows developers to make changes to the app's code and see the results in real-time, without having to manually stop and restart the app. This can save a significant amount of time and effort during the development process, and it allows for faster iteration and experimentation.
Overall, Flutter is a powerful framework for building native-like mobile apps using the Dart programming language and the Flutter framework. Its proprietary rendering engine and built-in widgets provide a smooth, performant user experience, and its hot reloading functionality allows for faster development and iteration.
