How much does it cost to hire an offshore Flutter developer?

Flutter was developed by Google and is an open-source UI software development kit. The tool was originally released in 2017 and has since been used to create cross-platform applications for Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, Google Fuchsia, and Linux. Using Flutter, you can create cross-platform applications, build Android and iOS apps using the same code base. It provides a very simple and intuitive interface for developers, and it's based on Google's language, Dart.

The Flutter app is a widget in itself and also supports animations and gestures. The app logic is completely based on reactive programming so that you can develop more modern-looking apps. Flutter also has several readymade widgets to help developers get started with the creative process. The widgets are mainly optimized for mobile and are as simple as coding in HTML.

Creating a mobile application or API is a pretty challenging task. Flutter aims to help make the process easy for mobile developers. Android provides a framework that is based on Java or Kotlin. On the other hand, iOS development would require knowledge of Objective or C/Swift. As you can see, the amount of work needed for mobile app development on both platforms is immense.

This is where Flutter comes in. Using this cross-platform framework, you only have to write one code. The unique code can be used as an application for Android, iOS apps, and Desktop. Overall, it saves time, energy, and app development costs for the business and makes work much more convenient.

Flutter is based on the Dart programming language. Several features from Kotlin and Swift have found their way into this Google's unique language, so you can expect to find some familiar elements when using Flutter for software development.

The stack widget in the Flutter SDK enables developers to make layers of widgets. There are two different types of stack subcategories that you need to know about. The first is the positioned child widget that can be accessed through the top, left, right, and bottom properties. The other category is non-positioned. The alignment property for this child widget is set to the top left corner.

Some of the properties of the stack widget are:

• Alignment: Controls how a widget will be aligned in the stack.
• clipBehaviour: Decides if the content needs to be clipped.
• fit: Controls how the non-positioned entity will fit the space it is given.
• overflow: Determines if the overflow content will be visible or not.
• textDirection: As the name suggests, this property allows you to choose the direction of text from left to right or the other way around.

A Flutter developer is an engineer who uses Flutter to develop cross-platform applications for desktops and mobile devices. Earlier, React Native was used for mobile application development. But now, Flutter is becoming an increasingly popular option for developers due to the benefits it has.

Here are some of the advantages that a Flutter developer can avail:

• An extremely fast development process due to the hot-reload feature. The code can be changed or updated as soon as alterations are made.
• The API is much faster than other alternatives and does not hang or cut.
• Reduced number of testing since you don't need to check for multi-platform operability separately.
• Programmers don't need to update any of the user interface content manually.

Before being able to understand Flutter in-depth, developers need to have a solid foundation of Dart programming, Android Studio, and programming languages such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.

The official docs with the Flutter widget allow entry-level programmers to start coding instantly. Since there is such good documentation with cross-platform language, the learning curve experienced is also much shorter.

It won't take too long to get started with Flutter, and junior engineers can develop their first simple applications from scratch within one day. As a novice, junior developers are able to develop basic programs and scan for errors in the code.

The next step in Flutter development is to become a middle engineer and be able to make the code more efficient and has knowledge of other languages like Java, Kotlin, React Native, and more advanced web development. They might be trusted to mentor beginners and will slowly start to lead projects.

Senior Flutter developers will be entrusted to lead projects and guide several teams in using Flutter. They have more than five years of experience in creating apps with Flutter. Knowing other languages like java and different frameworks like NodeJS is also a big advantage.

Here are the roles and responsibilities that Flutter developers face regularly:

• Coding applications using the Flutter SDK to create a great user experience.
• Testing applications so that they do not crash when they are being used by the consumers. Testing also ensures that the application is without any bugs or glitches, and meets the user requirements.
• Monitoring and updating applications is the next major responsibility that a Flutter developer has to take up. Not only do they have to monitor client feedback, but they also have to constantly update the product per requirements and add new features.

The first and the major skill is to be able to use Dart. Developers need to be able to write simple scripts using the language to be able to get a grip on Flutter. It is an object-oriented and dynamic language that forms the backbone of everything engineers will be doing with Flutter.

Prior to learning Flutter, developers need to have a basic understanding of Swift for iOS APIs. Similarly, Java and Kotlin are the fundamental blocks for Android development. While a lot of developers will argue that you don't need to know a native language prior to Flutter, it is helpful to have some prior experience with a native language.

Developers also have to be familiar with the most popular project management methodology – Agile, to be able to collaborate with the team and have a clear understanding of the development process.

There are different kinds of developers that depend on the hiring model that is suitable for your project. Depending on your needs and your budget, you can choose between freelancers, in-house engineers, or outsource programmers. You also get to choose from a backend developer, front-end developer, or full-stack developer.

If you have a relatively simple project and have a short budget, then hiring a freelancer is the best option for you. They are usually hired for additional tasks or short projects.

If you are going to build a new product and need a quality team of developers, you need to hire in-house software engineers for core development at least. That would be a core team that builds your product from scratch. It should be full-time employees responsible for major tasks and the development process.

Another option is to outsource your project to qualified software engineers that can help you with your project. There are a lot of options to consider when it comes to outsourcing such as the location, the development company, and whether or not you outsource the full project or just a subcategory of it. If you want to outsource a complete development process, you can hire a dedicated team of developers, QA engineers, designers, and PMs. If you already have an in-house core tech team and want to outsource additional engineers, you can hire high-quality contractors to extend your team.

Whenever you're writing out a Flutter project description to describe your needs and hire a mobile developer, you need to mention the following things:

• The stage you are at (Is that only the idea you want to build from scratch, or you are looking for a developer to create additional features for the existing application)
• The industry of your project (It can help find the candidate with a similar experience)
• The description of your project (What is it about, major goals and target audience)
• The team (Is it a remote team, is it in-house or outsourced, what are the key roles)
• The main responsibilities of the developer you are looking for

Specifying all this information is key so that the mobile developer has a clear idea of what the demand of the project is.

Whenever you're screening a potential candidate to work on your project, you need to test their hard skills. Here are some of the questions that you can ask them to ensure that they have experience with mobile app development using Flutter.

• What are the Flutter widgets?
• What do you mean by stateful and stateless widgets in Flutter?
• What are the best editors for Flutter development?
• What are packages and plugins in Flutter?
• What are the differences between Flutter and React Native?
• What is the Hot Reload feature in Flutter?
• What are some popular apps that use Flutter?
• Differentiate between Hot Restart and Hot Reload.
• What is a stream in Flutter? Explain the different types of streams.