Part 1: Introduction to Flutter and Environment Setup

1. What is Flutter?

Flutter is Google’s UI toolkit for building natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. It is highly efficient, and some major apps like Google Ads and Alibaba are built using it.

2. Setting Up Development Environment

Step 1: Install Flutter SDK

• Visit the official Flutter website and download the appropriate SDK for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux).
• Follow the installation instructions.

Step 2: Install an IDE (VSCode or Android Studio)

• VSCode: Download and install VSCode.
  • Install the Flutter and Dart extensions from the VSCode marketplace.
• Android Studio: Download and install Android Studio.
  • Set up Flutter and Dart plugins via the plugin manager.

Step 3: Set Up an Android/iOS Emulator

• Follow this guide to set up an Android or iOS emulator for testing your apps.

3. First Flutter Project: “Hello World”

Let’s build a simple “Hello World” app to understand how Flutter projects are structured.

Step 1: Create a New Flutter Project

Open the terminal or command prompt and run the following command to create a new project:

flutter create hello_world_app
cd hello_world_app

Step 2: Open Project in IDE

• Open the project in VSCode or Android Studio.
• Locate the lib/main.dart file.

Step 3: Modify the Code

In the lib/main.dart file, replace the content with the following code:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          title: Text('Hello World App'),
        ),
        body: Center(
          child: Text('Hello, World!'),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Step 4: Run the App

• To run the app, use the following command in the terminal:

flutter run

This simple app displays a “Hello, World!” message on the screen. It also helps students understand the basic structure of a Flutter app.