How To Design Mobile Applications With Flutter?
Flutter Is An Open Source Framework For Building Web And Application Applications With The Dart Programming Language.
Google created this framework, and its first version was released in 2017. One of the prominent features of Flutter is the ability to create beautiful and dynamic applications.
In Flutter, you can use various tools and widgets to design the user interface (UI) and easily apply animations and changes to the appearance of your application.
Mobile application developers can use Flutter through the powerful and modern Dart programming language. Dart is an easy language to learn and has tools for memory management and real-time code execution. Flutter also uses a unique architecture called Widget Architecture to build its applications. This architecture allows you to design different user interface parts separately and combine them easily.
In general, Flutter is a powerful and modern framework for building web and application applications developed by Google.
Is Flutter better for mobile and web application development?
Using Flutter or any other mobile and web application development framework generally depends on the project’s needs and the developer’s experience. However, Flutter can be the best option for some projects and specific needs.
One of the prominent features of Flutter is the ability to create beautiful and dynamic applications. This framework allows you to easily apply animations and changes to the appearance of your application. Also, Flutter has a widget architecture (Widget Architecture) that will enable you to design different parts of the user interface separately and combine them easily.
Is Flutter suitable for developing multiplatform applications? Yes, Flutter is ideal for developing multiplatform applications. Using Flutter, you can build apps for Android, iOS, the web, and other platforms.
One of Flutter’s outstanding features is the ability to build applications that run the same on all platforms. Also, using Flutter, you can design code in a shared way for multiple platforms without having to write separate code for each forum. Overall, Flutter is great for cross-platform app development, allowing you to develop beautiful and dynamic apps for multiple platforms at a lower cost and faster.
What is the right programming language to work with Flutter?
The suitable programming language for working with Flutter is Dart. Google developed Flutter using the Dart language, specifically designed to work with Flutter.
Dart language is a modern programming language with high capabilities suitable for developing mobile, web, and server applications. Dart, specifically for working with FlutterIt, is designed and supports features such as Type Annotations, classes, modern functions and methods, advanced classes, real-time code execution, and automatic memory management.
Dart is easy to learn and is very easy for programmers familiar with languages like Java, JavaScript, Swift, and Kotlin. Dart is also suitable for developing large applications due to its simplicity and code maintenance. The Dart language is well-suited to working with Flutter, allowing programmers to quickly create beautiful, dynamic applications with clean, maintainable code.
How to design the user interface of the application with Flutter?
In Flutter, the user interface of the application is designed using widgets. Widgets are user interface-building elements that you can use to create different components of your application’s user interface.
To design the user interface in Flutter, you can use tools like Flutter Studio or Android Studio. Also, you can create your user interface manually by coding. In this method, you create different user interface components, such as buttons, forms, texts, etc., using other methods of widgets.
In Flutter, widgets are organized as a tree. For example, widgets such as Scaffolds, Bodies, and Tabs are upstream widgets used to structure the overall user interface. Widgets such as buttons, forms, and text are the basic widgets used to design the details of the user interface.
Also, in Flutter, you can use design libraries such as Material Design and Cupertino Design to design the user interface. These libraries provide ready-made design tools to create your user interface, including buttons, forms, top and bottom bars, etc.
Why should Flutter be used to build mobile apps?
Flutter is a compelling and widely used mobile application development framework developers use for mobile application infrastructure reasons.
- Multiplatform capability: Using Flutter, you can create applications for platforms like Android, iOS, web, and other media.
- Beautiful and dynamic design: Flutter allows developers to develop attractive and vibrant applications for multiple platforms at a lower cost and faster.
- High speed: Flutter is a swift framework that can execute real-time code. Using Flutter, you can build applications with high speed and more efficiency.
- Maintainable code: Flutter uses Dart as a programming language that provides maintainable and transparent regulation. Also, Flutter uses widgets (Widgets) as building blocks of the user interface, which allows programmers to write code in an orderly and maintainable manner by organizing widgets.
- High comprehensiveness: Flutter includes various libraries and tools that allow developers to build different types of applications. This framework provides facilities such as test tools, design tools, and memory management tools internally.
Overall, Flutter is a compelling and widely used mobile app development framework that allows developers to build high-quality, high-speed apps for multiple platforms.
Easy development for multiple platforms at the same time
Flutter allows developers to develop applications for various platforms simultaneously. This way, you can use Flutter to build and publish apps simultaneously for multiple platforms, including Android, iOS, web, desktop, and more.
This feature of Flutter is because this framework takes an all-in-one approach, allowing you to develop high-quality, platform-independent applications using the Dart programming language and a set of shared tools and libraries. This feature helps you to reduce the cost and time of development and maintenance of applications.
Also, Flutter supports widgets that are used to design the user interface. These widgets allow you to create the same user interface for multiple platforms and automatically optimize it for each platform.
Ability to easily develop minimum acceptable product MVP with Flutter
Setting a minimum proper product (MVP) with Flutter is possible. Flutter is a complete and customizable framework that allows developers to quickly and cheaply build the initial version of the application.
Using Flutter, you can develop a complete and acceptable MVP very quickly. Flutter supports many libraries for user interface design, data management, server communication, etc. Flutter also uses the Dart language, which allows programmers to write simple and understandable code.
Flutter also allows developers to design user interfaces quickly and inexpensively using widgets. Flutter widgets are like puzzle pieces that you can use to create your application’s user interface quickly and at the lowest cost.
Overall, Flutter allows for quick and easy MVP development. Using this framework, you can create an initial version of your application in the shortest possible time and consider user feedback on your product.
Advantages and disadvantages of creating a mobile application with Flutter
Flutter is a powerful framework that allows developers to develop mobile applications quickly and with high quality. In the following, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of creating a mobile application with Flutter :
Advantages:
- Multiplatform development: Flutter allows developers to develop applications for multiple platforms simultaneously. This way, you can use Flutter to build and publish apps simultaneously for various platforms, including Android, iOS, web, desktop, and more.
- High performance: Using the official Skia engine, Flutter is highly efficient, allowing you to develop high-performance, lag-free apps.
- Beautiful user interface: Using Flutter, you can design a beautiful user interface for your application. Flutter supports many libraries for user interface design, animations, and special effects.
- Usable Libraries: Flutter supports many libraries for data management, server communication, etc., that developers can use.
- Extensible code: The Dart language used in Flutter is a modern and extensible language that allows programmers to write extensible and maintainable code.
Disadvantages:
- Small community: Flutter is an innovative framework, but its community is still as small as frameworks like React Native or Flutter. This may lead to a lack of support resources and possible problems.
- New skills required: The Dart language used in Flutter is a modern language that may not be easy for programmers with experience working with other languages. Also, some of Flutter’s features may differ for developers who have worked with different frameworks before and require relearning.
- Less flexibility: Compared to other frameworks, Flutter is less flexible and more suitable for projects requiring a specific user interface. For example, Flutter is unideal for developing applications with a media user interface like games.
You must first install Dart and Flutter on your system to get started. Then, using the editor of your choice, you can start coding. Flutter has built-in user interface (UI) tools that you can use to design your app’s pages.
A scenario for building an application with Flutter
Suppose you want to design an application to manage and track online orders for a restaurant. Here, you can use Flutter to build this app. To get started, you can design your app’s user interface using Flutter’s libraries. You can create other pages using different widgets, including a login page, registration page, order list page, and each order detail page.
Then, you can connect to the server using other Flutter libraries. You can use the HTTP library and RESTful directives to send and receive data to and from the server. Using this data, you can display the orders in the order list and the details of each order through the details page.
You can also use push notifications to send notifications to users, such as information about an order status change or a congratulatory message to a user when an order is completed.
Finally, you can increase the security of your application by using Flutter directives. For example, you can use data encryption libraries to protect user information and prevent attacks such as published attacks (Man in the Middle).
1. Installing and setting up Flutter
To begin with, you need to install the Flutter framework on your system. For this, you can use Android Studio or Visual Studio Code. Then, using Flutter’s commands, you can build your project. To install and run Flutter, you need software such as Flutter SDK, Android Studio, Xcode, etc. To install this software, it is better to use the official guide of the Flutter site.
2. User interface design
You can use Flutter libraries, including Material and Cupertino, for UI design. For example, you can use the Scaffold, AppBar, ListView, and Container classes to create different pages, including a login page, a registration page, an order list page, and an order detail page. The user interface design can look something like the following:
import ‘package: flutter/material.dart’;
class LoginPage extends StatelessWidget {
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
appear: AppBar(
title: Text(‘login’),
),
body: Center(
child: Column(
mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
children: <Widget>[
TextField(
decoration: InputDecoration(
hintText: ‘username’,
),
),
TextField(
decoration: InputDecoration(
intext: ‘Password,’
),
),
raisedButton(
impressed: () {
// TODO: Login validation
},
child: Text(‘login’),
),
checkbox
value: false
unchanged: (deal) {
// TODO: Save settings
},
title: Text(‘Remember me’),
),
],
),
),
);
}
}
3. Communication with the server
You can use the HTTP library and RESTful directives to communicate with the server. For example, you can receive and send data from the GET and POST commands. Coding to communicate with the server can look like the pseudocode: To communicate with the server, you must first create an object of the HTTP—client class. Then, you can send various requests to the server using the created thing. Next, an example of sending a GET request to a server address is shown:
import ‘package: HTTP/HTTP.dart’ as HTTP;
Future<void> fetch data() async {
final response = await HTTP.get(Uri.parse(‘ https://example.com/data ‘));
if (response.statusCode == 200) {
// Response received successfully
print(response.body);
} else {
// There was an error receiving the response
print(‘Error: ${response.statusCode}’);
}
}
In this example, HTTP sends a GET request to the https://example.com/data address. Get Function. Then, by checking the response status code, it is determined whether the response was received successfully or not. If the answer is received successfully, the content of the solution is printed to the output. Otherwise, the response status code is printed on the production.
Instead of using HTTP. Get, you can use other functions like HTTP. Post, HTTP.put, HTTP. Patch, and HTTP. Delete to send POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE requests to the server. To better understand and use these functions, refer to the HTTP library documentation in Flutter.
4. Use push notifications
To use push notifications, you can use flutter libraries, including flutter_local_notifications and firebase_messaging. Using these libraries, you can send push notifications and notify your users. Notification coding can look like the following pseudocode:
To use push notifications in Flutter, you can use the flutter_local_notifications library. This library allows you to send push notifications in the Flutter application. To use this library, you must first add it to the pubspec.yaml file and then call it in the main.dart file. Below is an example of sending a push notification in Flutter using the flutter_local_notifications library:
import ‘package:flutter_local_notifications/flutter_local_notifications.dart’;
// Create an object of FlutterLocalNotificationsPlugin class
final FlutterLocalNotificationsPlugin flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin =
FlutterLocalNotificationsPlugin();
// Default settings for push notifications
const AndroidInitializationSettings initializationSettingsAndroid =
AndroidInitializationSettings(‘app_icon’);
const InitializationSettings initializationSettings =
InitializationSettings(android: initializationSettingsAndroid);
//Function to display push notifications
Future<void> show notification() async {
// Create an object of AndroidNotificationDetails class
const AndroidNotificationDetails androidPlatformChannelSpecifics =
AndroidNotificationDetails(
‘your channel id,’
‘your channel name,’
‘your channel description,’
importance: Importance. max,
priority: Priority. high,
);
// Create an object of the NotificationDetails class
const NotificationDetails platformChannelSpecifics =
NotificationDetails(android: androidPlatformChannelSpecifics);
// Display push notifications
await flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin.show(
0, // Posh notification ID
‘Push notification title,’// Push notification title
‘Push notification text,’// Push notification text
platformChannelSpecifics, // Posh notification settings
payload: ‘data,’// The data to be sent for the push notification
);
}
In this example, using the FlutterLocalNotificationsPlugin class, an object is created to send push notifications. Then, using the AndroidNotificationDetails class, the push notification settings are set. They were finally utilizing the flutterLocalNotificationsPlugin.show Function displays a push notification with the specified title and text.
To send a push notification using this code, call the showNotification function. Also, you can change the title and text parameters of the show notification function to display the push notification with the desired title and text.
5. Increasing application security
You can use data encryption and digital signature libraries to increase the application’s security. For example, you can use the AES and SHA256 classes for data encryption and the RSA and ECDH classes for digital signatures.
Increasing application security is one of the most important things in application development. To increase the safety of the application, attention should be paid to such things as protecting sensitive data, testing the safety of the application, controlling user access, using security protocols, etc. Here are some tips to increase application security in the above scenario:
- Using HTTPS to communicate with the server: Using the HTTPS protocol to communicate with the server allows secure communication between the application and the server. This method establishes communication with the server through an encrypted channel. To use HTTPS, you must change the server address to https://example.com/data and use the HTTP function to send the request.
- Data Encryption: To protect users’ sensitive data, you should use data encryption. For this purpose, you can use cryptographic libraries like crypto.
- Checking user access: Users’ access to different parts should be controlled to increase the application’s security. For this purpose, you should use libraries like permission_handler.
- Application security test: To increase the application’s security, it should be subjected to a security assessment, and its security problems should be identified. For this purpose, you can use security testing tools like OWASP ZAP.
The sample code for using HTTPS and data encryption is as follows:
import ‘package: HTTP/HTTP.dart’ as HTTP;
import ‘ Dart: convert’;
import ‘package: crypto/crypto.dart’;
Future<void> fetch data() async {
final response = await HTTP.get(Uri.parse(‘ https://example.com/data ‘));
if (response.statusCode == 200) {
final data = json.decode(response.body);
// Data encryption
final key = utf8.encode(‘my_secret_key_1234’);
final encrypted data = encrypt(data, key);
print(encrypted data);
} else {
print(‘Error: ${response.statusCode}’);
}
}
// AES encryption function
String aesEncrypt(dynamic data, List<int> key) {
final plainText = utf8.encode(JSON.encode(data));
final sha256Key = sha256.convert(key).bytes;
final iv = List.generate(16, (i) => 0);
final encrypter = Encrypter(AES(Key(sha256Key)), mode: AESMode.CBC);
final encrypted = encrypter.encryptBytes(plainText, iv: IV(iv));
return base64.encode(encrypted.bytes);
}
The HTTP library is first used in this code, and the HTTPS protocol is used to receive data. Then, using the crypto library, the data is encrypted using AES encryption. Finally, the encrypted data is encoded as a string and printed.
Using these tips, you can increase the security of your application. Also, it would be best to remember that app security is a complex issue requiring careful and ongoing scrutiny.
