Google backed Flutter SDK, has been enabling Developers in the creation of native apps for iOS, Android, and other platforms for some time now.
And now, with the release of version 2.6, Flutter’s underlying programming language, Dart is also gaining the capability to develop native apps for Linux, Windows, and Mac – taking Flutter app development to a new level.
Let us look at all the up and coming Flutter 2.6 elements announced yesterday on Dart’s Medium page.
Dart native executables
Since the past few years, Google has kept a concentrated focus on ensuring that working on Dart language becomes a great experience for developers. But even amidst constant updates, there were a few situations that remained unaddressed.
One of those commonly occurring instances was the need to use Dart for backend server and even reusing the code wherever possible.
The new 2.6 version makes it easier than ever, thanks to the “dart2native” tool. Although Dart language already supported compiling programs for supreme performance, dart2native tool brings things up a notch by bundling Dart runtimes for your platform.
Here’s an example of what it translates into – On Windows, you would now be able to compile programs written in Dart language to an easily shareable .exe file. The program will then run on any Windows computers without calling for the installation of the Dart SDK.
Extension methods
The next major feature of the Dart 2.6 version is the ‘static extension methods preview’. Through this feature, developers can create new methods for existing classes. Meaning, in place of writing a function which takes an instance of a class, developers will now be able to declare “extension” for any class that would contain their additional methods.
One of the primary goals of the extensions is enabling autocomplete and prediction, which allows developers to write code in the form of “noun.verb()” instead of “verb(noun)”. Although there is no right or wrong between the styles, the developers have started preferring noun in place of a verb.
Here was everything exciting announced yesterday about Dart 2.6 version. The only part left unanswered for the developers is how to download Dart 2.6. Let us attend to that as well.
How to Download Dart 2.6
The Dart 2.6 version is now available for download and soon it will roll out as a sub-part of Flutter SDK.
We would recommend that until the version reaches the stable Flutter, developers should test the dart2native by installing Dart SDK separately from Flutter. We would also advise that you should go through the complete changelog to know what is new with Dart 2.6, including all the major changes made to “foreign function interface” feature that was introduced in Dart 2.5 in September.
The post Dart 2.6 Version Released With Native Executable Support appeared first on Appinventiv Official Blog for Mobile App Development.
