Comparison of Flutter and React Native for mobile development

【51CTO.com Quick Translation】Just a few years ago, we would see various mobile applications developed using Java in Android Studio. However, after Google launched Kotlin, people are no longer too concerned about developing for the framework.

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Nowadays, developers in the industry generally begin to use new frameworks such as Flutter and React Native to develop various mobile applications. These new frameworks not only make the application writing process easier, but also bring more cross-platform functions to users and support development across different domains.

Basic comparison

In short, if you need to include some dynamic features in your application, then use the React Native framework. It supports more third-party libraries than Flutter. Given that Flutter is a relatively new framework and its community is still developing and improving, it may be difficult to find high-quality online tutorials.

In contrast, React Native has now consolidated its market share, so it has a larger community than Flutter, from which you can get various online help based on different industries. In addition, as experienced JavaScript developers become more and more active in the React Native community, they are more willing and more frequent to share their advanced knowledge and skills.

In terms of program code reusability, Flutter allows users to directly modify existing code for new development tasks. However, React Native's code reusability is relatively complex. Given its existing platform style, the framework requires users to put in more work.

Framework Developer

Flutter, launched by Google, has been popular in the industry since its launch in 2017 for its practical functions and easy mobile application development features. React Native was developed by Facebook in 2015 and launched in 2017. Therefore, if you want to create hybrid applications running in a container through web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS for users to access through compatible web pages on their mobile phones, then these two platforms are good choices for you. Below, we will compare the advantages of the two frameworks for the development of hybrid applications.

Which is more stable?

As we all know, when we develop applications for large projects, the stability of the application itself is particularly important. At the same time, the application should be able to maintain its stability as the number of users increases. So, in terms of project scale, most developers will recommend using React Native to develop applications for large projects. They generally believe that applications developed by Flutter are not suitable for large projects.

In my opinion, although React Native and Flutter are comparable in the number of users they support, React Native is indeed more stable. This is mainly because its huge community can guarantee the sustainable improvement of the framework, and even if some of its features encounter problems in a certain application, the community can quickly find compensation or even replacement solutions.

language

As mentioned earlier, both frameworks support hybrid application development. Therefore, you can use the same programming language to create both Android and iOS versions of your application. Specifically, React Native uses JavaScript, while Flutter uses Dart for cross-platform development. Because of the support for JavaScript, and the fact that many developers in the industry have such experience, it is generally believed that using the React Native framework will be more handy for development. In contrast, Dart is relatively new, and many developers are not very familiar with it.

Comparison of interfaces

Many people who are familiar with these two frameworks have always believed that React Native provides a newer and better user interface because it uses various native components. Flutter, on the other hand, relies on various widget sets. Although Flutter's widget sets provide users with multiple options for customizing the user interface, sometimes this customization method affects the user's intuitive experience during use.

test

In terms of testing, Flutter has an advantage because it provides different built-in test units for the user interface. On the contrary, since React uses JavaScript, it does not have many official testing tools available. Although you can use the Jest testing tool for snapshot testing, if you want to test the user interface to find specific problems, React does not provide suitable official testing tools. Of course, you can get help from unofficial testing tools such as Detox to test applications built with React Native, but the success of such tests is not guaranteed.

Related guide support

Next, let's compare the online documentation and guides of the two. Flutter is slightly better because it provides complete online and offline documentation, and developers can easily use the relevant documentation to develop applications. Moreover, since Flutter documentation provides shortcuts to simplify complex tasks, it is easier for Flutter developers to create their own mobile applications in a shorter time.

Admittedly, React Native also provides corresponding documentation, but its documentation is not as well organized as Flutter.

in conclusion

In summary, we have come to the following conclusion: React Native has been and will continue to be widely used in different mobile development projects, thanks to the support of developers and related industries from all over the world. However, as the saying goes, "every generation has its own talents", the size of Flutter's community is also growing continuously, and many developers in the industry are confident that Flutter will become the future of mobile application development.

Original title: Comparison Between Flutter vs. React Native for Mobile App Development, Author: Vibha Pareek

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