Due to the increasing popularity of mobile applications, a higher percentage of companies need one or more mobile applications to stay competitive in the saturated market. Companies are also looking for the best way to build mobile apps, particularly commonly used apps for iOS and Android, that have faster speeds and require fewer resources. Of course, Apple and Google provide native tools and technologies for building applications. Developers creating iOS can use XCode and Swift to build apps, while Android developers can utilize Android Studio and Kotlin/Java. Either of these processes requires engineers to master two technologies that are completely different from each other. Thus, companies began to adopt cross-platform solutions instead of native solutions to help build iOS and Android apps faster in one language.

However, there are many frameworks to choose from; however, Flutter and React Native are the two industry giants. There is no doubt that these two cross-platform frameworks have their own advantages and disadvantages. Simultaneously, these rudimentary technologies leave most people confused on which framework is best to create applications.

To help you choose the best, we provided answers to the most common questions, and these include "What is Flutter and React Native?", "The difference between React Native and Flutter" "Which cross-platform application development framework is best?"

What are React Native and Flutter?

React Native

React Native is a cross-platform framework for mobile app development, and it was developed by Facebook. It is suitable for Android, iOS, Web, and UWP. Using React Native, developers can take advantage of the features of React and the various features of each platform and seamlessly integrate the required features. The framework allows developers to create user interfaces using elements that appear to be native on all platforms.

Flutter

Flutter is a software development kit for mobile, desktop, and web platforms. Flutter was developed by Google and is similar to React Native. It is open-source. The framework allows developers to create cross-platform applications that look the same in both the old and new versions of a device's operating system and features an attractive feel due to the large number of widgets available. Compared to proprietary development, Flutter significantly reduces the time it takes to build applications.

React VS Flutter

Programming Language

React Native utilizes JavaScript, which is the commonest programming language in web development. JS developers are generally familiar with the React framework, which has many of the same features as React Native. This makes it easier to learn and implement the tool, especially if the company already has a team for website development. React Native makes it easier and simpler for users who are already familiar with JavaScript and React to learn how to develop mobile Apps.

Flutter uses Dart: to use Flutter, you must use Dart (a programming language developed by Google). As language optimized for clients, Dart offers a lot of benefits. Consider efficient application development as an example. Fortunately, Dart is similar to other commonly known languages, like Java and C++. If you are comfortable with any of them, learning Dart would be easier. According to Stack Overflow, darts are more popular with developers than JavaScript.

Architecture

React Native can communicate between JavaScript and native languages ​​through a JavaScript bridge. It works like this: Both parties send JSON messages to establish communications. The message is asynchronous, which means that the user interface of the application must be consistent. However, because the bridge will affect the rendering speed, the end-user interface may be lagging.

On the other hand, Flutter does not need a bridge to communicate with native components. Everything is inside, including frameworks such as Cupertino and Material Design. This advantage of Flutter over React Native apps makes apps more stable and predictable across platforms.

Native Components

React Native offers the elements needed to develop an application, namely UI rendering capabilities and access to the device's API. For other functions, including access to native modules, React Native relies on third-party libraries, which is generally less convenient than having all the necessary tools in a package.

Flutter provides many libraries, navigation, test tools, and widgets, and access to the standard device API and the basic UI to create visually appealing user interfaces with little effort. In most cases, Flutter eliminates the need for developers to use third-party libraries. The functionality to which the design relates is generally sufficient to perform all the necessary tasks and satisfy the design requirements.

Testing Support

React Native is a JavaScript framework, and there are several unit-level testing frameworks in JavaScript. Such tools can be used for quick testing. However, there is no official support from React Native for UI integration or testing. Third-party tools are similar to React Native applications and can be used for testing but are not officially accepted.

Flutter provides a variety of testing functions for testing applications at the device, widget, and integration level. Flutter has excellent documentation for testing Flutter applications. Flutter has an interesting feature that allows you to create a widget test for UI testing and run it at the speed of unit tests.

Community Support

For open-source development frameworks, a large community of contributors is crucial. It is worth mentioning that you can find that in React Native. Facebook launched the framework in 2015 and quickly became the favorite of numerous developers.

Flutter's developer community is not as big as React Native, but not all that small. Flutter was introduced in 2017 and is a new framework that a lot of people are still becoming familiar with. Moreover, it is also gradually gaining support as well.

Which one to choose?

Flutter and React Native are incredible frameworks that allow you to build cross-platform applications faster and easier than most native tools.

React Native is an excellent tool for building complex cross-platform apps. If you know your project is going to be large and deeply embedded, React Native is the best choice. It has more solid support and extensive documentation. If you plan on reusing code for your web app and desktop app, use React Native. On the other hand, the integrated native components and the hot reload function make Flutter an ideal iteration tool. If there is a need to create an MVP within a short time, use Flutter. It is also the best choice if your application is UI-oriented.

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