Introduction to the course, prerequisites, and goals

About this course

Introduction

About Module 2

Overview of the technology used in this course

About Flutter and Dart

Everything you need to start building Flutter apps

Hardware & software setup

\`flutter create\` and the Flutter project structure

Creating a Flutter app

How to build your app for emulators and physical devices

Running your app

Integrating external packages and libraries

Pub packages

Setting the app name, icon, and bundle ID

Version

Setting up your environment and packaging apps

Getting Started

About Module 3

A 5-minute introduction to the Dart language

Dart cheat sheet

Flutter in a nutshell

Setup: State

Setup: Theming

Setup: Navigation

Setup: Scaffold

Learn the basics you need to build any kind of app

Creating A Seed App

About Module 4

Text, app bar actions, and widgets that wrap every page

Creating the widget and route

Stubbing data

Widgets that wait for data

Column, Row, Padding, spacing, and alignment

Layout basics

Sizing, clipping, explicit constraints, Images, and Containers

Responsive layouts, part 1

Table layouts, expansion panels, and rich text

Responsive layouts, part 2

ListView, SingleChildScrollView, and Scrollbar

Scrolling layouts

How to think about layout, infinite constraints, and unbounded size

Layout problems

TextButton, OutlinedButton, FilledButton, ElevatedButton, and button styles

Buttons

The Profile Page

About Module 5

VoiceOver on iOS

Testing accessibility on an Android emulator

TalkBack on Android

Accessibility Widgets

Making sure your app works with a screen reader

Accessibility

About Module 6

Shared preferences

HTTP requests

Login and authentication

State management with Provider and Consumer

Managing user state

Storage and HTTP

About Module 7

Building and sorting a DataTable with DataTableSource

Data tables

Using fl_chart for responsive visualizations

Charts and graphs

Building data visualizations that impress

Tables and Charts

About Module 8

Simple animations

Custom paint

Custom animations

Off-the-shelf transitions, custom drawings, and fine-tuned animations

Animations

About Module 9

flutter_test and the Flutter unit testing API

Unit tests

Testing UI interactions on individual widgets

Widget tests

Testing your entire app with automated interactions

End-to-end tests

Unit tests, widget tests, and end-to-end tests

Testing

Congratulations

Wrapping up

Flutter is a popular cross-platform development framework. It's packed with off-the-shelf features and focused
on developer ergonomics, which means you can build faster and deploy to more platforms with fewer dependencies.
Some parts of the framework will catch you by surprise, though, especially if you're used to developing for the
web or writing native apps. This course will walk you through the creation of a Flutter app from setup to
final package and help you develop a mental model that will carry you through the most common problems Flutter
devs encounter.

By the end of these 10 modules you'll have built:
- A Flutter seed project that can manage state, swap out color palettes, and handle deep links
- An accessible, error-resistant profile page that fetches data from a web API
- A responsive data table and data-driven visualizations
- A complete app ready to deploy to iPhone and Android

This course includes sample code, explained step-by-step, that you can reuse for any Flutter app you build.

It's taught by Isaac Lyman, author of _Your First Year in Code_ and Top 10 Author on The DEV Community.

After completing Line-of-Business Apps with Flutter 3, developers have the skills to build mobile apps backed by their
choice of server technologies, taking advantage of the incomparable performance, speed-to-value, and developer
experience of Flutter and Dart.

What developers are saying

Flutter

Dart

Bring your mobile app ideas to life on every device

### Build Better Mobile Apps with Flutter

Smartphones are the most popular computing devices in the world, and mobile apps are the best way to reach
technology consumers. But building fully native apps means learning two or more completely different sets of
programming languages, UI frameworks, layout systems, and developer toolkits. Other cross-platform frameworks
have tried to make this process easier, but none of them have achieved the popularity, performance, or resilience
of Flutter.

With Flutter, you'll avoid several problems you may have had with other app frameworks:

- Publish native app packages for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux, all from a **single codebase**, without
writing a single line of native code.
- Write **faster, safer code** with the familiar syntax, type safety, and null safety of the Dart programming language.
- Flutter is an **all-in-one component library and toolkit**: spend your time building components and writing application logic
instead of fiddling with toolchain configuration and searching for 3rd-party packages.
- Never worry about the way your app looks on different devices; with Flutter's **built-in rendering engine**
and **logical pixel scaling**, your app will look the same on every screen, everywhere.

### Be Prepared for Any Challenge

Flutter is an easy-to-learn, top-rated technology for developers, but it doesn't come without gotchas. In this course, you'll
learn to breeze right through some of the hardest parts of Flutter development:

- Responsive design, complex layouts, and breakpoints
- Layout errors and infinite constraints
- Hand-drawn components
- Custom animations, tickers, and tweens
- State management and data persistence

### Start Building Real Apps Faster

This course won't waste any time teaching you what an `if` statement is. You'll be able to use the
programming experience you already have and jump straight into building mobile apps with Dart and Flutter.

Along the way, you'll build skills you can use immediately for any app you dream up:

- By the end of Module 2, you'll have already packaged a Flutter app for distribution on the iOS and Android
app stores.
- By the end of Module 3, you'll have a seed app you can use for any project.
- By the end of Module 4, you'll know how to build responsive layouts and use the most common types of widgets.
- By the end of the course, you'll have built an **accessible**, **interactive**, **server-backed** app with **custom animations**
and **three types of automated tests**.

Along the way, you'll discover Flutter's secret: it's not only the easiest way to build cross-platform mobile
and desktop apps, it's the easiest way to deliver **any* kind of technological experience, **period**. Not even the web, with
its variety of frameworks and tools, can match the development speed and polished UI of a Flutter app.

Build cross-platform iOS and Android apps faster than you thought possible

In this course you'll build a corporate app and package it for iPhone and Android from a single codebase.

Flutter is a popular and feature-rich multi-platform development toolkit, but it's got some surprises for
traditional web and desktop developers. You'll learn how to think in the Flutter way and build fast, maintainable,
visually appealing apps.

Line-of-Business Mobile Apps with Flutter and Dart

Build a secure login modal with HTTP authentication and persistent cookies

Build responsive, nested layouts and intuitive user interactions

Build fast, informative data visualizations

How to build and package apps for iOS and Android from a single codebase

Why Flutter and Dart are a perfect match for multi-platform apps

The Flutter paradigm for layout and components

How to keep your Flutter app fast and responsive

State management, server requests, accessibility, and more

Let's go over the hardware you'll need to build a Flutter app.

This course is focused on smartphone apps. You can test and package Android apps from any desktop OS, but to package iPhone apps, you'll need Xcode, which only runs on MacOS. So, if you're developing mobile apps, my top recommendation is a Mac. It can do it all. The base model M1 Macbook Air is a rock-solid development machine, though if you can afford some extra RAM, you'll be glad to have it.

If you don't have a Mac, that's okay; you can still publish for Android using Windows or Linux. And even though you won't be able to test in an iPhone simulator, there are online services like 

 that can help you package your app for iOS. I want to stress that this will be a massive headache when you're trying to fix a bug that only happens on iPhones. But it's not impossible.

It's also important to test on a physical device, so make sure you have a cord to connect your smartphone or tablet to your computer.

Keep track of the install location for everything you're about to install.

You can develop Flutter apps with any text editor or IDE, but for the best tooling and support, you'll want to use either Android Studio or VS Code. I prefer VS Code since that's what I use most of the time anyway. If you don't already have one of these installed, no sweat; you'll be downloading Android Studio here in a moment.

Whatever IDE you use, make sure to get the Flutter and Dart plugins. They'll help you check syntax, refactor code, and run your app. If you look up "Flutter" and "Dart" in your extension browser, they'll be the first ones that come up.

. It's a big app, so it might take a while; go ahead and take a break while the installer is running. When it's done, start up Xcode to make sure it is installed correctly.

Next (or first, if you're not on Mac), download and install 

. This will install the Android SDK, which you need to package Android apps. You should also install the 

. When you're done, make sure Android Studio starts up without any issues.

If you want to deploy your app to the web, you'll need Google Chrome. It's the only browser supported by the Flutter debugger.

Note that the Flutter experience on the web isn't quite as fast or smooth as on mobile and desktop, and since Flutter apps aren't statically generated, they're hard for search engines to crawl. If you just want to build a website, Flutter may not be the best choice.

You'll need the Flutter SDK, of course. Head over to the 

 at the Flutter docs and run the install package.

If you use your computer for development already, there's a good chance you already have all the additional tools you need. But if you want to debug on your desktop, here's a quick checklist to run through (see 

You'll want to add some folders to your PATH environment variable. The Flutter install page includes instructions for the 

 binary and Android CLI tools. My preferred terminal for Mac is 

, so these are the magic lines I use in my 

export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/code/flutter/bin"
export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/code/flutter/.pub-cache/bin"
export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/Library/Android/sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/bin"
export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/Library/Android/sdk/emulator"
export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools"
export PUB_CACHE=$HOME/code/flutter/.pub-cache

On Windows, the Android SDK is installed by default to 

C:\Users\yourUserName\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\

Whatever your preferred folder structure is, just make sure these point to the install locations for Flutter and the Android SDK. The last one (

) is optional; it tells Dart where to cache Pub packages.

To make sure everything's in place, start up a terminal and run the 

 command. It will check that it's got access to what it needs and let you know if anything is missing. You should see a line of green checkmarks if everything's in order.

It's okay if your terminal output doesn't look exactly like mine. Why do I have two versions of VS Code installed? Who even knows? The checkmarks are what matters.

---
title: Hardware & software setup
description: Everything you need to start building Flutter apps
privateVideoUrl:
isPublicLesson: true
---

## Hardware

Let's go over the hardware you'll need to build a Flutter app.

This course is focused on smartphone apps. You can test and package Android apps from any desktop OS, but to package iPhone apps, you'll need Xcode, which only runs on MacOS. So, if you're developing mobile apps, my top recommendation is a Mac. It can do it all. The base model M1 Macbook Air is a rock-solid development machine, though if you can afford some extra RAM, you'll be glad to have it.

If you don't have a Mac, that's okay; you can still publish for Android using Windows or Linux. And even though you won't be able to test in an iPhone simulator, there are online services like [CodeMagic](https://codemagic.io/) that can help you package your app for iOS. I want to stress that this will be a massive headache when you're trying to fix a bug that only happens on iPhones. But it's not impossible.

It's also important to test on a physical device, so make sure you have a cord to connect your smartphone or tablet to your computer.

## Software

:::tip

Keep track of the install location for everything you're about to install.

:::

### IDE

You can develop Flutter apps with any text editor or IDE, but for the best tooling and support, you'll want to use either Android Studio or VS Code. I prefer VS Code since that's what I use most of the time anyway. If you don't already have one of these installed, no sweat; you'll be downloading Android Studio here in a moment.

Whatever IDE you use, make sure to get the Flutter and Dart plugins. They'll help you check syntax, refactor code, and run your app. If you look up "Flutter" and "Dart" in your extension browser, they'll be the first ones that come up.

![Screenshot of the Dart and Flutter extensions in VS Code's extension browser](https://d2uusema5elisf.cloudfront.net/courses/line-of-business-mobile-apps-with-flutter-and-dart/module_02/lesson_02.03/public/assets/dart-flutter-extensions.png)

### Xcode

If you're on a Mac, start by installing [Xcode](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/). It's a big app, so it might take a while; go ahead and take a break while the installer is running. When it's done, start up Xcode to make sure it is installed correctly.

### Android Studio and CLI tools

Next (or first, if you're not on Mac), download and install [Android Studio](https://developer.android.com/studio). This will install the Android SDK, which you need to package Android apps. You should also install the [Android command-line tools](https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line). When you're done, make sure Android Studio starts up without any issues.

### Google Chrome

If you want to deploy your app to the web, you'll need Google Chrome. It's the only browser supported by the Flutter debugger.

Note that the Flutter experience on the web isn't quite as fast or smooth as on mobile and desktop, and since Flutter apps aren't statically generated, they're hard for search engines to crawl. If you just want to build a website, Flutter may not be the best choice.

### Flutter SDK

You'll need the Flutter SDK, of course. Head over to the [install page](https://docs.flutter.dev/get-started/install) at the Flutter docs and run the install package.

### Additional tools

If you use your computer for development already, there's a good chance you already have all the additional tools you need. But if you want to debug on your desktop, here's a quick checklist to run through (see [the docs](https://docs.flutter.dev/development/platform-integration/desktop#requirements) for details):

-   **Windows:** Visual Studio 2022 or Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 (_Desktop development with C++_ workload)
-   **MacOS:** CocoaPods
-   **Linux:** Clang, CMake, GTK development headers, Ninja build, pkg-config, liblzma-dev (if you installed Flutter using [snapd](https://snapcraft.io/flutter), you should already have all of these)

### Environment variables

You'll want to add some folders to your PATH environment variable. The Flutter install page includes instructions for the `flutter` binary. You should also add the `pub` binary and Android CLI tools. My preferred terminal for Mac is [Oh My Zsh](https://ohmyz.sh/), so these are the magic lines I use in my `.zshrc` file:

    export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/code/flutter/bin"
    export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/code/flutter/.pub-cache/bin"
    export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/Library/Android/sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/bin"
    export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/Library/Android/sdk/emulator"
    export PATH="$PATH":"$HOME/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools"
    export PUB_CACHE=$HOME/code/flutter/.pub-cache

:::tip

On Windows, the Android SDK is installed by default to `C:\Users\yourUserName\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\`.

:::

These same lines should also work in a `.bashrc` file if you use vanilla bash.

Whatever your preferred folder structure is, just make sure these point to the install locations for Flutter and the Android SDK. The last one (`PUB_CACHE`) is optional; it tells Dart where to cache Pub packages.

## Verifying your setup

To make sure everything's in place, start up a terminal and run the `flutter doctor` command. It will check that it's got access to what it needs and let you know if anything is missing. You should see a line of green checkmarks if everything's in order.

![Screenshot of a terminal with the output from \`flutter doctor\`, showing that all the above software tools have been installed correctly.](https://d2uusema5elisf.cloudfront.net/courses/line-of-business-mobile-apps-with-flutter-and-dart/module_02/lesson_02.03/public/assets/flutter-doctor.png)

:::note

It's okay if your terminal output doesn't look exactly like mine. Why do I have two versions of VS Code installed? Who even knows? The checkmarks are what matters.

:::
