Flutter Development Experience with Chris Sells

Flutter 101 Podcast

Chris Sells is a Senior Product Manager at Google on Flutter. Chris is responsible for the end-to-end development experience, as well as tooling, the package ecosystem, and the desktop platform support.

Flutter on the desktop is getting more popular day every day, though it is (unsurprisingly) behind mobile and web in popularity. Flutter's desktop support allows you to compile Flutter source code to a native Windows, macOS, or Linux desktop app.

We also talked about the Flutter Favorite program: The aim of the Flutter Favorite program is to identify packages and plugins that you should first consider when building your app. Chris explained what metrics they consider, how the Flutter Ecosystem Committee works, and the quality standards that a Flutter Favorite package has to pass.

The outstanding Flutter development experience also relies on the community. Chris highlighted various projects, including detective.dev, Codemagic's improved desktop features, and FlutterFlow.

Chris also shared what his typical day as a Product Manager is like, how usability studies work, and how different packages' ergonomics can be evaluated.

Guest: Chris Sells

• Twitter @csells
• GitHub @csells
• LinkedIn @csells
• Web sellsbrothers.com

Host: Vince Varga

• Twitter @vincevargadev
• GitHub @vincevargadev
• LinkedIn @vincevargadev
• Web vincevarga.dev
• Flutter 101 Podcast on Twitter @flutter101dev

Most relevant past episodes from Flutter 101

• Dart in the Cloud, Backend, Command Line and Shelf with Kevin Moore (Episode 14): Kevin Moore is a Product Manager at Google working on Dart and Flutter. Dart in the cloud, on the backend, and on the command line. Functions Framework for Dart, Google Cloud Run, Docker and Dart, Shelf, and many many other useful packages.
• Null Safety with Randal Schwartz (Episode 8): We talked to Randal Schwartz, GDE for Flutter and Dart, about null safety in Dart and we received a couple of tips for migrating to null safety.
• Publishing Packages with Vince Varga (Episode 5): Let's go through the steps of publishing Dart packages on pub.dev. From idea to execution and publishing. Write a good README, keep your code clean and tested, set up a CI/CD pipeline to keep things in pristine condition, and do not forget the docs!

Mentioned packages

• pub.dev/packages/provider: A wrapper around InheritedWidget to make them easier to use and more reusable.

Other resources

• Flutter Medium: Follow Flutter's Medium for updates and interesting blog posts.
• Flutter Favorite Program (Flutter Docs): The aim of the Flutter Favorite program is to identify packages and plugins that you should first consider when building your app.
• Desktop support for Flutter (Flutter Docs): Desktop support allows you to compile Flutter source code to a native Windows, macOS, or Linux desktop app.
• Kevin Moore (Google IO, YouTube): Building platform adaptive apps: Flutter now supports six platforms across mobile, desktop, and the web. Learn best practices for making your application feel at home on each of these platforms while also maximizing code reuse.
• Building adaptive apps (Flutter Docs): Flutter provides new opportunities to build apps that can run on mobile, desktop, and the web from a single codebase. [...] You want your app to feel familiar to users, adapting to each platform by maximizing usability and ensuring a comfortable and seamless experience.
• Flutter Favorite packages on pub.dev: You can see the complete list of Flutter Favorite packages on pub.dev.
• FlutterFlow: Build Flutter Apps Effortlessly. Building mobile applications has never been easier.
• Detective (detective.dev): Real-time state inspection and more to solve the mysteries in your Flutter app in record time.
• Codemagic: CI/CD for mobile that matches your needs.
• Flutter macOS desktop publishing with Codemagic: With Codemagic, you can easily get a head start and publish your applications to the macOS App Store!
• github.com/flutter/uxr: Flutter User Experience Research
• Flutter routing packages usability research report (PDF): ... We formed a small research team to investigate the proposed community solutions and evaluate whether to recommend one of them to our users or, at least, provide guidance about how to choose a routing API.

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