Getting Started with Flutter and Dart

1. Introduction

Welcome to the world of Flutter and Dart! This tutorial aims to guide you through the first steps of building a Flutter app using Dart.

By the end of this tutorial, you will have a basic understanding of Dart programming, Flutter's framework, how to set up your development environment, and how to create a simple Flutter app.

Prerequisites:

• Basic knowledge of programming concepts
• A computer with a Windows, macOS, or Linux operating system

2. Step-by-Step Guide

Installing Flutter and Dart

1. Download Flutter SDK from the official website: https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/install
2. Extract the file in an appropriate location on your PC.
3. Update your system path to include flutter/bin.

For Dart, most Flutter installations also install Dart, so you don't need to install Dart separately.

Setting Up the IDE

We recommend using Visual Studio Code or Android Studio. Both IDEs have excellent Flutter and Dart plugins.

Creating Your First Flutter App

1. Open your terminal or command prompt
2. Navigate to the folder where you want to create your project
3. Run flutter create my_app, replace my_app with your desired project name
4. Navigate into your new project with cd my_app
5. Start your app with flutter run

3. Code Examples

Example 1: Hello World

// Importing Flutter's Material Design package
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

// The main() function is the entry point of our app
void main() {
  runApp(MyApp()); // Running our custom-made app
}

// Creating a stateless widget
class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  // A widget that describes part of the user interface
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          title: Text('Hello World App'), // App bar title
        ),
        body: Center(
          child: Text('Hello World!'), // Display text in the center
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

When you run this code, you'll see a new app with an app bar titled 'Hello World App', and a center text that displays 'Hello World!'.

4. Summary

We've introduced you to Dart, Flutter, and the necessary steps to create your first Flutter app. You've learned how to install the Flutter SDK, setup your IDE, and create a basic Flutter app that displays "Hello World!".

5. Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Modify the 'Hello World' app to display 'Welcome to Flutter'.

Exercise 2: Add a button to the app. When pressed, the button should change the text displayed in the center of the screen.

Exercise 3: Create an app that has two screens. The first screen should have a button that navigates to the second screen.

Solutions can be found on the official Flutter documentation: https://flutter.dev/docs. We recommend trying to solve the exercises on your own before looking at the solutions.

Happy Fluttering!