Flutter is a popular open-source mobile UI framework. It uses C++ and Dart for its programming needs. This software UI kit is portable and helps in creating elegant iOS and Android apps. Flutter has a very extensive widget library, with hundreds of complex and customized widgets that can help you generate 2D motions and UI animations for your app.
As the demand for mobile app development continues to rise, so does the demand for talented and trustworthy developers who can profit from its many advantages. Flutter is a modern framework that is simple to use and doesn’t require an endless amount of lines of code for the creation of native applications. Coupled with the fact that it can be used to develop cross-platform apps, it’s easy to understand the demand for Flutter right now.
According to a 2021 developer survey, Flutter is currently the most popular cross-platform mobile framework, ahead of React Native, Cordova, and Ionic. A total of 42% of the software developers who responded use Flutter, as opposed to 39% in 2020 and 30% in 2019, which shows a steady growth year-over-year.
How do I hire a Flutter developer?
Over the past few years, Flutter has been experiencing a steady growth in the number of developers that choose it as their main framework. If you intend to hire Flutter developers, it’s important to understand the platform’s fundamentals and to decide on a strategy to evaluate the potential candidates with which you may come across.
Flutter developers Hiring Guide
Tech giant Google created Flutter in 2017. It’s highly compatible and supports OS such as Android, iOS, Windows, and Linux. Flutter is compatible with Android SDK 19 and above. For iOS, it’s compatible with iOS 9 and above. Flutter also has multiple language support, which has also helped in its popularization. In fact, Flutter is available in 78 languages.
Through Flutter, you get seamless access to Firebase BaaS APIs. It provides you with different backend tools, real-time storage, and DB administration. You can also apply machine learning and AI techniques to your data.
Flutter also has great online community support. Queries and issues related to the application development process are resolved rapidly. You can add a thumbs up on Github for frequent issues and the community will prioritize it.
Relevance of Flutter in the present industry
Being a Google product raises Flutter’s credibility to a point where it’s gaining immense popularity in the present digital market. Many large-scale applications such as Google apps, Reflectly, Cryptograph, and Xianyu use it. Many companies such as eBay, BMW, Philips, Tencent, and Groupon, also use Flutter to create their applications.
That’s because it has many reusable Dart elements that you can use for your software development. You need to write less custom code, as you can use the same codebase for iOS and Android. Performance-wise, the apps function better than other frameworks as Flutter apps don’t use JavaScript.
Instead, Flutter uses its own native engine for UI components, avoiding the need to establish communication between view and code. It also uses declarative UI, which renders widgets only when their state is changed. To top it all off, there’s Hot reload to build the widget tree and check up on the changes.
Issues companies face while hiring a Flutter developer
Developers often possess basic knowledge of Flutter. However, an advanced approach to the framework and extensive experience is required before you can create an enterprise-level application with it.
Many developers aren’t well versed with Flutter widgets, which means they can’t make the most out of these innovative components available to them. This framework itself is updated regularly, and it’s difficult to keep up with changes in the newer versions.
Aside from all that, developers need to have experience on Dart, as the language is required to code with the framework. Unfortunately, not that many developers are proficient in it.
How to choose a perfect Flutter developer?
Choosing a Flutter developer might appear challenging, but you can easily select them by assessing certain parameters. First, make sure they are well-versed with Dart and its features. They should know how to develop mobile apps and should have a deep understanding of the Flutter platform.
Go with the developer who can develop user-friendly API-based apps. The developer should also be acquainted with data structures, algorithms, and control flows of Flutter.
In addition, they must possess expertise in Agile development, and they should know about the general mobile architecture landscape and cross-platform development.
Interview Questions
What is the Hot reload function in Flutter?
Users can introduce real-time changes in code using the Hot reload function. This feature allows users to reset code, change Dart VM, and rebuild the widget tree on the fly and without refreshing the entire app. This doesn’t run main or initstate functions. This also reduces the execution time in the app development process.
What is Dart DevTools in Flutter?
They are a set of debugging and performance tools for Dart and Flutter. Using this tool suite, developers can examine the UI layout of an app and diagnose performance issues. They can also perform CPU and network profiling. These tools help in source-level debugging for Flutter and Dart applications. You can use general log and diagnostics data to understand the issues and work towards fixing them.
What do you understand about Switchable Themes in Flutter?
These days, most users like to customize apps according to their liking. Flutter’s Switchable themes allow users to pick their own theme for Android and iOS applications. Users can select a different material color, viewing aspect, etc., for their Android application and a different color/contrast combination for their iOS application and vice-versa. You can also provide a dark mode for reading.
How can you test Flutter apps?
Flutter has robust automation tests that help developers conduct continuous integration, widget, and unit tests. You can also use Appcircle, Cirrus, and Travis to test Flutter applications.
What are Stateful and Stateless widgets in Flutter?
Stateful widgets are dynamic widgets that have state information. They don’t have a build() method. Instead, they use the createState() method to return an extension of the State class. Examples of Stateful widgets are Checkbox, Slider, and TextField. The Stateless widget is a static widget that doesn’t have state information. Examples of Stateless widgets are Text, Column, Container, etc.
Job Description
We are looking for a highly qualified Flutter developer that can design and develop large-scale mobile applications. We are looking for a qualified professional who can work code and debug amazing UIs.
The developer should have prior experience with mobile development. In addition, the developer must have good communication skills and should be able to write comprehensive documentation.
Responsibilities
- Write reusable Dart code modules
- Create Flutter projects and modules based on RESTful APIs
- Create high-order UI components for code reusability
- Work on iOS integration for Flutter apps
- Work on microservices architecture and container design
- Test code and widgets through automation tools in the framework
- Coordinate with internal and external teams to understand business requirements
- Follow best industry practices and standards
- {{Add other relevant responsibilities}}
Skills and Qualifications
- Knowledge of Dart. Should have prior experience with Flutter
- Experience in designing reusable code and modules using Dart
- Proven experience with third-party libraries and RESTful APIs
- Deep understanding of design patterns and mobile software development life cycle
- Experience with Java, Kotlin, and Android development
- Experience with code versioning tools (Git and Jenkins)
- Knowledge of Agile development
- Problem-solving skills and team spirit
- Other frameworks or libraries related to the candidate development stack
Cost to hire Flutter developers
Flutter is a considerably recent technology, with its official launch dating only a couple of years back, to March 2017. It has already, however, become one of the most preferred tools for app development.
Thanks to Flutter’s many benefits, there’s a lot that an experienced developer can do with it. This means that when you’re looking to hire Flutter developers you need to keep in mind that there are many variables that can influence the ultimate project cost.
In order to have a realistic and precise estimate of the total cost of a Flutter project, it’s important to understand and balance all of those variables, as well as consider crucial details such as deadline, talent, project complexity and dimensions, urgency, and so on.
Conclusion
Flutter has many advantages, such as easy accessibility to native features of popular mobile OS and quick app development. The application framework works with Android, iOS, Linux, and Windows. Flutter has an optimized and mobile-first 2D rendering engine that empowers its comprehensive platform. This framework will help you design highly interactive and visually strong native apps.
