Flutter Web Development vs React Native – Which One Is Better?
Nowadays, people don’t leave their phones as they’ve become an integral part of our social and business life. Therefore, companies that want to stay on top and get an instant flow of clients should adapt to modern realities, and one of them is developing mobile apps for a better user experience. If you’re ready or just thinking of the unique presentation of your services, you definitely need a robust system for creating apps. Today, Flutter and React Native are considered to be the most popular among cross-platform tools. Thus, we’d like to compare their features for you to define which one provides better web performance and needs less time for development – Flutter Web Development or React Native.
Flutter Web Development – What is Flutter?
Flutter is the open-source, cross-platform software development kit created by Google for mobile, desktop, and web apps. Starting from 2017, this framework has achieved a lot and become one of the most demanded in the web market. Every day it continues growing and improving to provide better decisions for app development.
The main difference between Flutter from other sources is Dart, a new impressive programming language created by Google. It’s simple to use due to its structure and flexibility for fast web development. Moreover, its codebase is a perfect decision for almost any operating system (Android and iOs, Windows, Mac, etc.). And the last predominant benefit is the variety of useful widgets that are the core of any app created by Flutter. Google Ads is the top example of using Flutter web development.
What Is React Native?
The React Native framework lets you develop mobile applications for iOS and Android using just one programming language – JavaScript, as well as use a significant part of the common code in these two applications. It has been present on the market since 2015, therefore has a bigger audience.
RN is considered to be a straightforward tool for web developers as there is no need to learn something new. This framework uses all standard libraries and presents helpful tutorials. Facebook and Facebook Ads are the top examples of using React Native development.
Flutter Web Development Vs React Native
Now you have a grasp of both platforms. Therefore we can proceed to some details and figure out their differences and strengths to help you choose the best option.
Programming Language
As we’ve mentioned before, Flutter uses Dart programming language, while React Native works with Javascript. It won’t be a problem for those who have coding skills to use both of them as Dart is quite simple and React Native has familiar programming rules. But if you’re new in web development, it’s better to start from Flutter due to its ease of use. Moreover, from a technical perspective, apps built on Flutter run more smoothly and fast as its code doesn’t have bridges as JavaScript does.
Installation Process
Setting up any of these frameworks isn’t as easy as desired. Almost everyone can install React Native with the help of Node Package Manager and such necessary tools as the Android SDK and JDK. To install Flutter, you need to download the binary. Then you should manually add it as a PATH variable and download it from the source code. It sounds pretty consuming, isn’t it? Therefore, React Native is a winner in the installation process battle as it’s easier to set up if you already have Node.js and npm installed.
Set-Up and Configuration
Considering getting started on a platform, it’s evident that Flutter has more advantages over React Native, which misses all the basic essential information and provides tips only on creating a particular project. So, RN’s guide is designed for those who already have some experience in framework downloading and setting up. Meanwhile, Flutter’s documentation and support presenting a detailed explanation of working with an operating system can help everyone achieve an aim(the Flutter Doctor tool assists you during the whole process).
APIs and UI Components
Considering some graphical components, Flutter surpasses React Native due to one aspect – it has a vast number of widgets with the help of which you can create a unique user interface. Moreover, apart from buttons, texts, and cards, animations, options, touch interactions are also widgets that describe how they will look depending on configuration and state. When the state of the widget changes (for example, the user clicks a button), it rebuilds its description, and its appearance changes.
RN, in turn, provides a platform for building an application, but you need to use third-party libraries or add the necessary parts manually to the code. Still, if we count native and one-of-a-kind graphical components, React Native wouldn’t catch Flutter anyway. Moreover, Flutter app development ensures security and reliability, while libraries used in RN can hide dangerous bugs or UI incompatibilities.
Flutter Web Development and React – Productivity In Development
You won’t find a 100% correct answer to which platform performs better, but considering how the code is rendered on the screens of compared frameworks, Flutter will come first. Why have we made such a decision? Flutter uses the GPU and creates its own widgets. In contrast, RN uses native components of other platforms, and its code includes Javascript bridges that make rendering slower.
Speed of Development
Both frameworks impress by their special features for fast speed of development:
- Flutter’s Hot Reload – with its help, developers can view the results of changes in code immediately;
- React Native’s Fast Refresh – it allows to make code modifications even into a running application.
However, we should warn you about possible issues when you upgrade your React Native app version. It often leads to broken libraries, so that developers need to fix them manually. Also, there may be problems with security because anyone can access JavaScript code.
Community
React Native has gained the trust of big companies like Bloomberg, Airbnb, Instagram, etc. Meanwhile, Flutter is considered young but a strong competitor. Its community is expanding steadily, and it will become a #1 platform without a doubt. Nowadays, companies such as Amazon, Alibaba, Toyota, and more already use it and are pleased with its functionality.
Flutter Web Development vs React Native – Few Words to Conclude
React Native deserves respect as it has helped lots of companies to tell the world about their offers and ensured their successful online presence. Undoubtedly, it’ll remain at the leading positions in the market, but new technologies are emerging, and there is no getting around it. Another favorite in app development is Flutter. Its rapid growth and how it adapts to today’s technology world is astounding. So which one to choose?
We’ve tried to consider some essential features and hope this research will help you decide on the platform that matches your expectations best.