React Native vs Flutter — Which one to choose for cross-platform app development

React Native Vs Flutter can be a good foundation for further analysis and research. In considering which framework to use for cross-platform app development it will be wise to ask two questions.

Are you looking at developing your apps at a rapid pace? & are you looking at reducing the cost of cross-application app development? If the answer to both these questions is a confident yes, then the comparison we provide will help you decide which framework to choose for your cross-application app development.

Let us understand both the frameworks and understand their differences clearly.

What is Flutter?

Flutter has been created by Google and is an open-sourced framework released in May 2017. With just a single code Flutter developers are able to create a native mobile application.

It has two main parts

1. A development toolkit is provided in order to assist the developers. The kit has tools that assemble the code into a native machine code applicable for both iOS and Android.
2. It also provides a User Interface library which is widget-based. This holds a bundle of metamorphic UI components like buttons, inputs, test, so on and so forth. These elements help in the personalization constructed according to your needs.

Flutter uses Dart programming language which can be used for the front-end development for both mobile and web-based applications.

Reasons to Use Flutter

• Easy to learn with easier usability

Flutter is a contemporary framework and due to its features makes it easy to create applications. The coding is simple and you can easily make cross-platform applications.

• Quick compilation

Flutter also gives the developers the convenience to change codes and immediately see the result of the change in real-time. This is the Hot reload feature which provides developers the ease to change codes and see results.

• Great for Start-ups

In order to attract Venture capitalists to your project, you can make a fine presentation of your offering using flutter. Minimum viable Product or the MVP can be made using flutter.

• Good documentation

For new technologies, having good documentation is absolutely necessary. Flutter’s documentation is detailed and has instant documentation support for every issue encountered.

• Growing community

Although not a very big community, its community presence is ever-growing.

What is React Native?

A framework built by Facebook for chalking out native apps for iOS and Android under one common language that is JavaScript.

Reasons you should opt React Native for cross-platform app development

• Single code: React Native framework developers prefer this dynamic framework for this reason. You can code only once and use those codes to create apps on both platforms.
• A flourishing React Native community: As of now, the React Native community has a huge community and with continuous improvement and plans, the community and the plugins are getting better.
• Node Package manager: With this installation becomes way easier than it used to be because developers feel that installation is the hardest thing to carry out.
• Presence of third party libraries: A great supporting feature of React Native framework is the presence of third-party libraries giving developers a wide choice to go ahead.

React Native vs Flutter — A Comparison

Programming Language

• Javascript
• Dart

Created By

• Facebook
• Google

First Release year

• Jan 2015
• May 2017

Github Stars

• 83200
• 81200

Flexible Components

• Most of them are adapted on their own
• None of the components are adaptive. They need to be configured

Learning Curve

• Easy to pick up, especially if you used to React or Javascript before
• Quite steep, you need to pick up Dart, and reactive programming isn’t all intuitive

Hot Reload

• Supported
• Supported

Architecture

• Redux as well as Flux
• works on BloC

Ecological community

• It has reached a mature level and works well in tandem with bigger organizations.
• It does not have many packages like React Native and also is at its nascent stage.

User Interface

• The application components are quite similar to native ones. React Native uses native components denoting that the components shall be updated immediately when the OS gets updated. The UI also cannot be disintegrated that easily.
• This look stunning on the latest versions of the operating system. Having the advantage of a single code base, it makes the application run well on both the platforms. The Cupertino widgets in flutter go a long way to copy the platform design.

Code Sharing

• They have a few curated libraries which let the user utilize the code for cross-platform. The shared code can then be extracted in mobile, web and desktop and put into a separate archive. Their treatment will be separate but will be infused in the same manner. The developer can then focus on creating a code for a pre-defined platform without bothering about if it is compatible or not.
• Flutter, on the other hand, will assist the developers to generate one code for all of its application. In fact, the web support for Flutter is not an alpha channel till date.

Competitive advantage

• React Native framework is stable which makes top players create applications using it especially on cross-platforms. It is also extremely simple and with the huge community support, users are never bound to return disappointed.
• Flutter is popular for its rich widgets which gives the app a great look. Documentation is great and provides an unparalleled time to market. It has one single code base and due to this feature, it is becoming a favorite of the developers gradually.

Installation

• Those developers whose JS is up to date can find the installation of the Node Package manager a cakewalk. But for others, learning a Node package manager can prove to be difficult. The Node package manager aids in installing at both the global and the local levels.
• Flutter can be installed simply by downloading the binary for a pre-determined platform from Github. It is also planning to have supporting package elements like Macports, YUM, etc to ease out the installation process.

Developer productivity

• This is highly objective because depending on the need of the project and the skills of the developer productivity can be determined. If the developer is well-versed in JavaScript then their productivity with React Native is bound to be the best especially in developing cross-platform applications. React Native also is blessed with a hot reload feature that enables the developers to save oodles of time especially while testing the changes made in UI. For IDE developers, the use of any text editor is permissible.
• It also contains the hot reload feature which eases the starting process. But with increasing complexity, developers have to then adjust with the new concepts and changes. Dart is not a very general language and is less popular in comparison, so the support system is not as robust as React Native.

With our comprehensive analysis of both the frameworks, we now believe that your queries to a larger extent have been satiated. Remember, information is the key and to proceed without knowledge will the first step towards disaster.