Browser to Beyond: A Front-End Developer's Path to Mobile Development.

Hi again 👋 I know it has been a while since you last heard from me. Well, let's just say >> I've been in hibernation.

Now I am back to talk, and no, I am not here to discuss a new front-end development tool I just learned how to use. I am here to talk about how I woke up one beautiful morning with an idea💡. But the problem was it wouldn't make sense to implement the idea using my web development skills; it just had to be a mobile application.

I know you are thinking, why not look for a mobile developer to do the work? Well, the short answer is, "Even though I'm financed, the man couldn't afford it" (yes, that's a Dave reference).

I decided to dive into mobile development, and I will write as I learn because I don't want to abandon it halfway. I must get to the finish line.

It's official: I am going to learn mobile development. The first thing I had to do was to figure out which programming language to use from the many available options.

Opting for Dart

I opted for Dart because I'll be working with Flutter, and just like you can't work with React, Next.js, or Vue without knowing basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can't use Flutter without some Dart knowledge. Plus, to me, Dart sounds like a game of precision, and who doesn't love hitting the bullseye? 🎯

What is Dart?

Dart is a client-optimized language for fast apps on any platform. It is easy to learn, especially if you have a background in JavaScript or Java. Its strengths include a strong type system, asynchronous programming support, and a rich standard library.

Why Flutter?

Flutter is fantastic for mobile development—many developers can vouch for its speed, expressive UI, and native performance. But what caught my attention? The name. Kotlin is cool, but Flutter has that ring to it. Plus, it rhymes with glitter, haha!

What is Flutter?

Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google. It is used to develop cross-platform applications from a single codebase. Its strengths include fast development, expressive and flexible UI, and native performance.

Baby Steps

Next step: the setup. I must say, setting up for web development is way, way easier. I didn't even need a tutorial video to do that. But with mobile development, I have been wandering through tutorials all week, and all I have achieved is being overwhelmed.

As a beginner in web development, all you had to do was have Chrome installed and choose which editor to use— you can either Notepad++, VSCode, or Sublime. I started with Sublime, but eventually, I became a fan of VSCode. No shade to Sublime, but "never again."

What's Next?

Well, now you know how it all started, you can laugh or cry along with me and cheer me on as I navigate this wild ride. hey! guess what! I've finally picked my IDE. After much deliberation, I decided to go with a sleek, powerful tool perfect for coding. it has tons of extensions and a vibrant community, and it’s not too heavy on your system. You might think I'm talking about Android Studio, right? Well, surprise! It's called VSCode—no shade, but we all know VSCode is a featherweight compared to Android Studio.

Okay, bye, for now, guys. Thanks for listening. See you next week or after, depending on how the setup goes.

Got any tips or insights? Drop a comment below! And don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get notified whenever I post something new. Let's keep this fun journey going together! 🚀