Flutter

Flutter is Google's cross-platform UI framework for building applications from a single Dart codebase. Unlike React Native, Flutter does not use platform-native UI widgets; it renders its own widgets pixel-by-pixel via the Skia (and now Impeller) graphics engine. The result is highly consistent visuals across iOS, Android, web, desktop, and embedded.

Core ideas

• Dart. The language: statically typed, ahead-of-time compiled for release, JIT for dev (hot reload).
• Everything is a widget. UI is built by composing immutable widget trees; state is held outside in State objects.
• Own rendering. Flutter draws every pixel itself, so an iOS Flutter app does not call UIKit; it shows its own controls.
• Hot reload. Sub-second rebuild of UI changes during development, a hallmark feature.

Where Flutter runs

• iOS, Android (primary)
• Web (limited; canvas/HTML renderers)
• macOS, Windows, Linux desktop
• Embedded devices (Toyota infotainment, BMW, set-top boxes)

Common ecosystem

• State management: Riverpod, BLoC, Provider, GetX, MobX
• Navigation: go_router, auto_route
• Plugins: pub.dev hosts the package ecosystem; many platform integrations available

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Related Terms React Native, iOS, Android, Swift, Kotlin

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Further Reading Flutter Is Taking Over