The text discusses the origin and evolution of the Flutter framework. In 2015, Flutter was first introduced under the name "Sky" at the Dart Developer Summit. Eric Seidel, the engineering director at Google, presented this experimental project as “Dart on mobile,” demonstrating that it did not rely on Java, meaning the app was native and highly responsive, with a goal to run devices at 60 Hertz. Sky was designed to offer a better experience for both developers and users, with the user interface (UI) and business logic written in Dart.
By 2019, Flutter expanded to support desktop apps and other platforms like Google Home Hub and Chrome OS. It is now described as a portable UI framework for mobile, web, desktop, and embedded devices, all from a single codebase.
The text also introduces a book that aims to teach mobile app development for iOS and Android using Flutter and Dart. It starts from the basics and gradually advances to production-ready applications. In the final chapters, the book covers creating journal apps with features like local data storage, mood tracking, cloud sync across multiple devices, and offline capabilities.
The author was particularly attracted to Flutter because of its widget-based architecture, which allows developers to compose UI elements easily and create custom widgets. Another major appeal was the ability to develop for both iOS and Android from a single codebase, something the author had been seeking for a long time. Flutter’s declarative, modern, and reactive nature helps developers define UI based on the app's current state.
