Overview :
In this article, we will study the difference between Flutter 1 and Flutter 2. Flutter 1 was launched by Google in 2017. The reason behind launching this was so that the developer could use only a single code to develop applications for multiple platforms like Android, iOS, Linux, macOS. Here the Desktop version was in the beta phase, And no Null safety was there. Recently they released Flutter 2 in which all the bugs in flutter 1 were resolved and now the desktop is no longer in the beta phase. The best feature they introduced is the Null Safety and in-built context menu.
Flutter 1 :
Flutter 1 was released by Google in 2017 and the language it was based on was a dart. It was introduced so that the developer could create cross-platform applications like Android, iOS, Linux, and web. But the web feature was in the beta phase at that time. Flutter applications gave 60fps to 120fps animation. Flutter allowed hot reload, restart which saved a lot of time for the developers. Many features like the web, the desktop was in the beta phase. Flutter 1 made the UI design a lot more easier and beautiful. But many bugs like app crashes, no in-built context feature, and many more features were not there.
Flutter 2 :
Flutter 2 was released by Google in 2021. Many of the features were taken the same as from the Flutter 1 like 60fps animations, hot reload, restart. The web application and desktop version were no longer in the beta phase and now using a single code developers could create applications for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows. The app crashing bug was resolved and inbuilt context, a have menu feature was also introduced. The main feature of all was Null Safety which was introduced in flutter 2. Two new widgets are introduced named ScaffoldMessenger and AutoComplete.
Differences between Flutter 1 and Flutter 2 :
Here, we will discuss the difference between Flutter 1 and Flutter 2.
S.No.
| Flutter 1
| Flutter 2
|
|---|
| 1. | It had web support but in the beta version. | It now supports the web and mobile. |
| 2. | Developers suffered many App crashes in Flutter 1 as it didn't have Null Safety. | Flutter 2 is introduced with the sound null safety to reduce App crashing problems. |
| 3. | It didn't have a built-in context menu that often leads the developers to wait for the lag while they were working on touch input. | Google introduced a built-in context menu in flutter 2 which includes many features like text selection and pivot points. And helped the developers to use high-precision pointing devices. |
| 4. | It didn't have desktop support. | Desktop support is to introduce in flutter 2 but it is still in the beta version. |
| 5. | iOS library searching was tough in Flutter 1. It was a very difficult process for the developers to search for one. | iOS search bar UI is introduced in developed flutter 2. |
| 6. | In Flutter 1 developers had to write different codes for different platforms. | Now in Flutter 2, the developers can reuse the code for both platforms. |
| 7. | None of them were in Flutter 1. | Two new widgets Autocomplete and ScaffoldMessenger are introduced to Flutter 2. |
| 8. | It was a difficult task to display or load ads in Flutter 1. | Google Mobile Ads SDK plugin is introduced to Flutter 2 hence making it easier to use. |
Conclusion :
Flutter 2 is much more user-friendly and has many more features than Flutter1. The Flutter 2 allows the developer to use the same codebase for all the five operating systems: Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, and macOS. The desktop support which was not in Flutter 1 is introduced to us in Flutter 2. The best feature of all they introduced null safety which removed the unnecessary App crashing.
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