Evaluation of Flutter as a migration target
Tuominen, Joni (2021)
Tuominen, Joni
2021
Tietojenkäsittelyopin maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in Computer Science
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2021-08-31
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202107106283
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202107106283
Tiivistelmä
This thesis evaluated Flutter, a cross-platform framework, as a potential migration target for mobile application development. The evaluation was done from the perspective of Piceasoft Ltd, a client of the thesis. While evaluation was done from Piceasoft’s perspective, the overall perspective remained generic. The evaluation was based on selection criteria discovered in existing related research, in addition to requirements set by Piceasoft. The evaluation emphasized communication with natively developed libraries, but other aspects of the framework were also examined.
Motive for the evaluation was to determine Flutter's suitability for long-term cross-platform mobile application development. Flutter’s common codebase for Android and iOS applications is expected to simplify the development process, improve maintainability, and reduce workload of developers.
The outcome of the evaluation was that Flutter is fulfilling requirements set by Piceasoft for most aspects. Flutter contains all required aspects to develop versatile applications that are capable of utilizing native Android and iOS libraries. In addition to the capability to utilize native libraries, Flutter provides a rich set of user interface components and a relatively easy-to-learn development language. Flutter’s common codebase, user interface components, and resource/localization management would potentially lead to reduced workload, increased maintainability, and increased similarity on both platforms. While fulfilling most of the requirements, a long-term evaluation of Flutter’s operating system support could be recommended. Overall, Flutter can be recommended for application development for Piceasoft, but it could be safe to start development with Flutter on smaller applications or projects.
Motive for the evaluation was to determine Flutter's suitability for long-term cross-platform mobile application development. Flutter’s common codebase for Android and iOS applications is expected to simplify the development process, improve maintainability, and reduce workload of developers.
The outcome of the evaluation was that Flutter is fulfilling requirements set by Piceasoft for most aspects. Flutter contains all required aspects to develop versatile applications that are capable of utilizing native Android and iOS libraries. In addition to the capability to utilize native libraries, Flutter provides a rich set of user interface components and a relatively easy-to-learn development language. Flutter’s common codebase, user interface components, and resource/localization management would potentially lead to reduced workload, increased maintainability, and increased similarity on both platforms. While fulfilling most of the requirements, a long-term evaluation of Flutter’s operating system support could be recommended. Overall, Flutter can be recommended for application development for Piceasoft, but it could be safe to start development with Flutter on smaller applications or projects.