React Native vs Flutter in 2024 - Make the RIGHT Choice (Difference Explained)

Daniel Dan | Tech & Data
21 Nov 202310:31

Summary

TLDRThis video script takes an in-depth look at the two leading cross-platform app frameworks, React Native and Flutter. The host, Daniel, delves into the unique advantages, disadvantages, similarities, and differences between these frameworks, offering valuable insights for mobile developers. He explores the programming languages, architectures, documentation, installation processes, and components used by each framework. Additionally, Daniel discusses the performance, scalability, and testing aspects of React Native and Flutter, helping developers make an informed decision based on their project requirements. The video also touches on career opportunities and salary prospects for developers working with these frameworks, highlighting the high demand and attractive compensation in the field.

Takeaways

  • 📱 React Native and Flutter are the leading cross-platform app development frameworks, allowing developers to build apps for both Android and iOS using a single codebase.
  • 🔑 React Native uses JavaScript and JSX, while Flutter is based on the Dart programming language and uses its own widgets.
  • ⚖️ Both frameworks offer advantages and limitations, such as React Native's large community and Flutter's efficient GPU rendering and support for modern interfaces.
  • 🔄 React Native and Flutter share similarities like hot reloading, open-source nature, and cross-platform capabilities, but differ in areas like programming language, architecture, and documentation.
  • 🤔 Choosing between React Native and Flutter depends on factors like project requirements, team expertise, performance needs, and scalability plans.
  • 💰 The demand and salaries for React Native and Flutter developers are high and comparable, with average salaries in the US around $93,000 and $89,000 respectively.
  • 🌟 Major companies like Facebook, Instagram, Uber, and Walmart use React Native, while Flutter is backed by Google.
  • 📚 Both frameworks have active communities, but React Native's is larger, while Flutter has more organized documentation.
  • 🚀 Flutter offers high performance due to efficient compilation, while React Native may be slower due to JavaScript bridging.
  • 🛠️ React Native allows more customization with third-party components, while Flutter ensures compatibility across platforms with its own widgets.

Q & A

  • What are React Native and Flutter?

    -React Native and Flutter are popular cross-platform app development frameworks. React Native was introduced by Meta (formerly Facebook) in 2013, while Flutter was released by Google in 2017. Both frameworks allow developers to build mobile apps for Android and iOS using a single codebase.

  • What are the advantages of using React Native?

    -Some key advantages of React Native include the ability to use familiar technologies like JavaScript, JSX, and React components, support for native UI elements, hot reloading for rapid changes, and a vast UI component community. React Native is also widely adopted by major companies.

  • What are the limitations of React Native?

    -Notable limitations of React Native include a potentially complicated user interface, the need to choose additional libraries for features not included in the framework (e.g., navigation, maps), and the fact that the framework is still evolving.

  • What are the advantages of Flutter?

    -Flutter's advantages include its flexibility and expressive features, a library of scalable widgets for creating customized interfaces, efficient GPU rendering, support for modern interfaces, easy integration into apps using WebView, and support for various IDEs like Visual Studio Code and Android Studio.

  • What are the limitations of Flutter?

    -The main limitation of Flutter is the need to learn Dart, a programming language that may be unfamiliar to many developers. Additionally, while Dart is not considered very difficult to learn, React Native allows developers to use the more widely known JavaScript language.

  • What are the key differences between React Native and Flutter?

    -Some key differences include the programming language (JavaScript/JSX for React Native, Dart for Flutter), architecture (Flux for React Native, Skia 2D for Flutter), documentation organization, installation process, component libraries, and 3D support (better in React Native).

  • How do you choose between React Native and Flutter for a project?

    -The choice between React Native and Flutter depends on factors like budget, deadlines, app size, project requirements, developer preferences, team expertise, required performance, and plans for app support and scalability. Both frameworks have their own strengths and weaknesses, so the decision should be based on the specific needs of the project.

  • What is the job market like for React Native and Flutter developers?

    -The demand for mobile app developers, including those skilled in React Native and Flutter, has been steadily growing in recent years. The average salary for React Native developers in the US is around $93,000 per year, while Flutter developers earn an average of $89,000 per year, indicating attractive career opportunities in both frameworks.

  • How do React Native and Flutter support cross-platform development?

    -Both React Native and Flutter support the concept of using a single codebase for building apps for both Android and iOS platforms. This reduces the amount of testing needed and allows for consistent user experiences across platforms.

  • What are some similarities between React Native and Flutter?

    -Some key similarities include their open-source nature, support for hot reloading, and the ability to use a single codebase for both Android and iOS platforms. Additionally, both frameworks offer features like efficient rendering and support for modern interfaces.

Outlines

00:00

👨‍💻 React Native and Flutter: Cross-Platform App Development Leaders

This paragraph introduces the topic of comparing React Native and Flutter, the two leading cross-platform app development frameworks. It outlines the main objectives of the discussion, including understanding the unique features, advantages, disadvantages, similarities, and differences between the two frameworks. Additionally, it mentions exploring career opportunities for developers working with these frameworks and determining which framework is best suited for specific projects.

05:00

⚖️ Key Differences Between React Native and Flutter

This paragraph delves into the main differences between React Native and Flutter. It compares various aspects, including programming languages (JavaScript/JSX vs. Dart), architecture (Flux vs. Skia 2D rendering), documentation quality, installation processes, component libraries, and 3D support. The paragraph aims to highlight the distinct characteristics that set these two frameworks apart, helping developers make an informed choice based on their project requirements.

10:01

🚀 Career Opportunities and Framework Selection Considerations

The final paragraph discusses career opportunities and factors to consider when choosing between React Native and Flutter. It mentions the growing demand for mobile app developers and the attractiveness of salaries for both React Native and Flutter developers. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of considering factors such as project budget, deadlines, app size, team expertise, performance requirements, and future scalability when selecting the appropriate framework for a specific project. The paragraph concludes by encouraging viewers to explore additional resources provided in the description and to engage with the content by liking and subscribing to the channel.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Cross-platform

Cross-platform refers to software or applications that can run on multiple operating systems or platforms, such as both iOS and Android for mobile apps. The video emphasizes that both React Native and Flutter are leaders in cross-platform app development frameworks, allowing developers to create apps that work seamlessly across different platforms using a single codebase. This is a key advantage as it saves time and effort compared to building separate native apps for each platform.

💡React Native

React Native is an open-source mobile app development framework created by Meta (formerly Facebook) in 2013. It allows developers to build cross-platform mobile apps using React and JavaScript, leveraging the same design principles and concepts as React for web development. The video highlights React Native's popularity among major companies like Facebook, Instagram, Uber, and Walmart. It also discusses React Native's advantages, such as using familiar technologies like JSX and JavaScript, offering a large community, and enabling the use of native UI elements. However, it notes limitations like a potentially complicated user interface and challenges in choosing additional libraries.

💡Flutter

Flutter is an open-source mobile UI framework developed by Google, released in 2017. It allows developers to create cross-platform native interfaces rapidly for iOS, Android, desktop, web, and single-page applications. The video emphasizes Flutter's advantages, such as its flexibility, expressive features, scalable widgets, efficient GPU rendering, and easy integration with existing code. It also mentions Flutter's global popularity, support for various IDEs, and the ability to create reliable, stable, and user-friendly apps. However, the video notes that Flutter requires learning Dart, a programming language less commonly used than JavaScript.

💡Hot Reloading

Hot Reloading is a feature that both React Native and Flutter support, which allows developers to see changes in their code instantly without refreshing the entire application. The video highlights this as one of the similarities between the two frameworks, as it speeds up coding, development, and bug fixing by providing immediate feedback on code changes. Hot Reloading is a crucial productivity tool for developers, enabling them to iterate and experiment more efficiently during the development process.

💡Single Codebase

Single codebase refers to the ability to write code once and have it run across multiple platforms or operating systems. The video emphasizes that both React Native and Flutter support this concept, allowing developers to create apps for both Android and iOS using a single codebase. This is a significant advantage as it reduces the amount of duplicated effort, testing, and maintenance required when building separate native apps for each platform. A single codebase also promotes consistency in the user experience across platforms.

💡Programming Language

Programming languages are the codes or syntax used to write instructions for computers and create software applications. The video highlights the difference in programming languages used by React Native (JavaScript and JSX) and Flutter (Dart). This is a crucial factor developers consider when choosing a framework, as it impacts factors like learning curve, community support, and existing expertise within their team. While JavaScript is a widely adopted language, Dart is less commonly used, potentially presenting a steeper learning curve for some developers.

💡Architecture

Architecture refers to the fundamental structure or design of a software system, including its components, patterns, and interactions. The video contrasts the architectural differences between React Native, which uses the Flux architecture and requires JavaScript bridging for native code interaction, and Flutter, which employs the Skia 2D graphics rendering library. Understanding the architectural approach of a framework is essential for developers, as it impacts factors like performance, scalability, and the ease of integrating with existing codebases or libraries.

💡Documentation

Documentation refers to the written explanations, instructions, and resources provided for a software framework or tool. The video compares the documentation quality between React Native and Flutter, stating that Flutter has more organized and structured documentation, while React Native's documentation relies heavily on third-party libraries and is less maintained. Clear and comprehensive documentation is crucial for developers, as it aids in learning, troubleshooting, and effectively utilizing the framework's capabilities.

💡Components

Components are reusable building blocks or user interface elements that developers can combine to create complex applications. The video differentiates between how React Native and Flutter handle components. React Native integrates third-party components, allowing more customization but potentially leading to compatibility issues, while Flutter uses its own widgets, ensuring compatibility across platforms. Understanding how components are implemented and managed in a framework is essential for developers to create consistent and maintainable user interfaces.

💡Career Opportunities

Career opportunities refer to the job prospects and potential for professional growth in a specific field or industry. The video discusses the career opportunities for developers skilled in React Native and Flutter, highlighting the increasing demand for mobile app developers and the high average salaries for both frameworks. It emphasizes that companies like Meta, Pinterest, and Alibaba have embraced cross-platform development, making expertise in these frameworks highly valuable in the job market.

Highlights

React Native and Flutter are leaders among cross-platform app frameworks and are becoming increasingly popular.

React Native, introduced in 2013 by Meta, allows fast development using JavaScript and offers a clear path to creating hybrid mobile apps.

React Native is used by major companies like Facebook, Instagram, Uber, and Walmart.

React Native advantages include reliability, native UI elements, hot reloading, large UI community, and platform-specific code support.

React Native limitations include a complicated user interface, evolving framework, and challenges in choosing additional libraries.

Flutter, released in 2017 by Google, allows creating top-notch native interfaces on iOS and Android quickly.

Flutter advantages include flexibility, expressive features, scalable widgets, customized interfaces, efficient GPU rendering, modern interface support, and easy web view integration.

Flutter limitations include the need to learn the Dart programming language and a smaller community compared to React Native.

React Native and Flutter share similarities like being open-source, supporting hot reload, and using a single codebase for both Android and iOS platforms.

Key differences between React Native and Flutter include programming language, architecture, documentation, installation, components, and 3D support.

The choice between React Native and Flutter depends on factors like performance, learning curve, testing, budget, deadlines, app size, project needs, team expertise, and scalability plans.

Both React Native and Flutter developers have attractive career opportunities, with average salaries around $93,000 and $89,000 per year in the United States, respectively.

The demand for mobile app developers, especially those skilled in cross-platform solutions like React Native and Flutter, is steadily growing, reaching an all-time high.

Major companies like Meta, Pinterest, and Alibaba have successfully embraced cross-platform development.

The video provides useful links in the description for further learning about React Native and Flutter mobile technologies.

Transcripts

play00:00

today flatter and react native are

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leaders among crossplatform app

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Frameworks and both of them just keep

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getting more popular but one of the

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questions mobile developers often ask is

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what should I choose react native or

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flatter my name is Daniel and today we

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will dive into the topic of flatter

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versus react native we will find out

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what makes each of them unique their

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advantages disadvantages similarities

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and differences also we will talk about

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carer opportunities for developers

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working with these Frameworks and most

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importantly I will help you understand

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which framework is best for your project

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and why and of course I will leave some

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useful links in the description in case

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you want to boost your knowledge about

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these mobile technologies well let's

play00:51

start react native versus flatter what

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are they for okay first of all I want to

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say that both react native and flatter

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are great crossplatform app development

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Frameworks moreover they are the best

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ones but they both have their unique

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purposes as well as pros and cons react

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native react native is a mobile app

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development framework introduced in 2013

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By meta it allows for fast development

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using JavaScript react native offers a

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clear path to creating hybrid mobile

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apps it enables developers to build apps

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for both platforms using familiar

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Technologies like jsx react native

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components and JavaScript today react

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native is used by major companies like

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Facebook Instagram Uber and Walmart

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react native is great for creating apps

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that work on both Android and iOS

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platforms developing mobile applications

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with JavaScript building crossplatform

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apps using a single code base utilizing

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the same design principles as react

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advantages and limitations guys there is

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a lot that react native has to off offer

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it's incredibly reliable and makes it

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simple to use native UI elements it

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offers hot reloading for rapid changes

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and supports platform specific code and

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what's absolutely awesome about it react

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native has one of the world's largest UI

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communities all the things speed up

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project development thanks to them react

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native developers are highly valued by

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companies however there are notable

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downsides to this framework the user

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interface can be quite complicated

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besides the framework is still evolving

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that makes it challenging to choose

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additional libraries for features not

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included in react native such as

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navigation or Maps flatter flatter is a

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mobile UI framework from Google it lets

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you create topn native interfaces on IOS

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and Android super fast it's free open

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source and work with existing code

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flatter is great for building desktop

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apps Progressive web apps and single

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page apps at advantages and limitations

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because it was released in 2017 flatter

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is even younger than react native but it

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can still offer numerous advantages for

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companies flatter stands out for its

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flexibility and expressive features it

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offers a library of scalable widgets

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creating customized interfaces with

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great designs its efficient GPU

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rendering supports modern interfaces and

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can be easily integrated into Apps using

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web view flatter enables applic iation

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making it super popular on a global

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scale with support for various IDs like

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Visual Studio code and ex Cod and Native

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arm code flatter apps are reliable

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stable flexible and user friendly

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however folks flatter comes with its

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limitations too first of all it uses

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Dart a language you need to learn if you

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want to use flatter all right I canot

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say that Dart is very difficult to pick

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up but other Frameworks like react

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native allows Developers to use familiar

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languages like JavaScript by the way

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guys I have dedicated videos on darkart

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flatter and react native on my channel

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so if you want to explore these topics

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some more feel free to check them out

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react native and flatter similarities

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guys before on I try to make educational

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content in an entertaining way make it

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fun instead of boring and in return I

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just ask you to like this video And

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subscribe to my channel if you enjoy the

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content I make that's

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before diving into differences let's

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first look at what react native and

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flatter have in common well they both

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are open- Source Frameworks for building

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crossplatform mobile apps they both

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offer features like hot reload this

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allows developers to see changes in the

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code instantly without refreshing the

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application and this speeds up coding

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development and Bug fixing both react

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native and flatter supports the concept

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of using a single code base for both

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Android and iOS platforms this means

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apps built on these Frameworks can be

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the same for users on both platforms and

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of course this reduces the amount of

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testing needed significantly react

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native and flatter main differences

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folks as you already know react native

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and flatter are both Frameworks designed

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to achieve similar goals this makes them

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great competitors that's why they have

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similarities and differences but you

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might ask why is it so important to

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choose why don't I just drop the first

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framework I like and get to work well

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guys your choice can impact on a lot of

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things for example Performance

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scalability maintenance cost and how

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quickly you can code and launch the app

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you want to build the right choice can

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literally optimize everything providing

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a great user experience and of course it

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saves costs in the long run on the other

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hand a wrong choice can lead to

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challenges When comparing flatter and

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react native you you will notice several

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key differences that set them apart

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programming language react native uses

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JavaScript and jsx flatter is based on

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the D programming language

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architecture flatter employs skia at2d

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graphic rendering Library react native

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uses the flux architecture which

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requires JavaScript bridging for

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interaction between native code and

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JavaScript

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documentation flut has a more organized

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and structured documentation

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react native's documentation relies

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heavily on third party libraries and is

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less maintained

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installation installing flatter involves

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downloading the binary from GitHub and

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configuring environment variables on the

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other hand react native can be installed

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using simple command via the node

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package manager

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components flatter uses its own widgets

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ensuring compatibility across platforms

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react native integrated thirdparty

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components allowing more customization

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but potentially leading to compatibility

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issues 3D support react native offers

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better support for 3D applications

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compared to flatter all right guys there

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are more differences between these two

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Frameworks but I think the ones I listed

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really show the benefits of both

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Frameworks and based on this you as a

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developer can choose the best fit for

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your specific projects flatter versus

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react native which one is better okay so

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which one is better after all flatter or

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react native well guys it depends let's

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sum up a few things to consider when

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making your choice flatter framework

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using Dart it offers high performance

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due to its efficient compilation however

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Dart is less commonly used making it

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harder for developers to learn react

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native relying on JavaScript bridging

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might be slower than flatter but it

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benefits from a larger Community its use

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of JavaScript saves developers time as

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it's a widely known language in terms of

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testing react n requires third party

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tools like detox but flatter has

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integrated testing features people lots

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of experts out there believe flatters

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RIS in popularity backed by Google could

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make it a front runner react native

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supported by a robust community and

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proven stability remains popular too but

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folks you shouldn't forget that when you

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choose a framework to work with you

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should also consider other things apart

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from technical features I am talking

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about factors like budget deadlines and

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app size moreover the right choice

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depends on your specific project needs

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your preferences as a developer client

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requirements your development team

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required performance and of course your

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team's plans for app support and

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scalability all right all right all

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right think about this to decide which

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framework is better for your project and

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your team's expertise rea native versus

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flatter carrier opportunities all right

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and now it's time to talk about final

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question what the job market looks like

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for react native and flatter developers

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well I can tell you guys that if you are

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planning a career that involves working

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with these Frameworks you have nothing

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to worry about in recent years the

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demand for mobile app developers has

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been steadily growing in fact it looks

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like now it's reaching for an alltime

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high moreover mobile developers are

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turning to crossplatform solutions for

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Speedy and efficient development major

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companies like meta Pinterest Alibaba

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and more have successfully Embrace

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crossplatform development currently the

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average salary for react native

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developers in the United States is

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93,000 per year at the same time flatter

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developers make as much as 89,000 on

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average so guys as you can see the

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difference is minimal and I think in

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both cases salaries are more than

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attractive all right my fellow Dev

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developers that's all about this react

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versus flatter comparison if you want to

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boost your skills with these Frameworks

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feel free to check out these links in

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the description they might help you a

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lot and if you like my content please

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give it thumb up if you want to see more

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videos like this make sure to hit that

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magic subscribe button thanks for

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watching until next

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[Music]

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