Cross-platform app development is more popular simply because it allows building apps with the same codebase for multiple OS platforms. With a cross-platform app running on iOS, Android, web, and desktop, businesses can easily reach out to more customers and get more opportunities for earning revenues.
We have had the two most popular cross-platform app development technologies such as React Native and Flutter. But recently, Kotlin, the official language for Android app developers, came up with its cross-platform variant called Kotlin Multiplatform. So, many think there is a scope for a new competitive comparison between Flutter and Kotlin.
We will compare these two technologies, their features, and areas where one outshines the other throughout this blog.
Introducing Flutter
Flutter is the open-source UI development toolkit from Google that uses Dart programming language to build powerful and native-looking cross-platform apps. Flutter is unique because it allows reusing the same codebase for building web and desktop apps besides the iOS and Android app versions. You can have a bigger talent pool well-versed with Flutter for outsourcing app development projects.
Key features of Flutter include the following.
- Flutter SDK is free and open-source and maintained by Google and a vast and expanding developer community.
- Flutter allows reusing the codebase across iOS, Android, web, and desktop platforms such as Linux, Windows, and macOS.
- Flutter comes with a hot reload feature to allow developers to evaluate the code changes in real-time through a running app.
- Flutter offers a vast repository of UI widgets to create Android and iOS apps following their platform-specific design principles such as Material Design and Cupertino. This also allows developers to build Flutter apps incrementally or in a modular way.
- Flutter supports a wide range of IDEs, ensuring great flexibility for the developers.
- The Dart language used by Flutter uses the minimum and clean code to ensure fewer bugs and faster loading time.
- Flutter offers integrated access to Google Firebase for backend development.
Introducing Kotlin
Kotlin is the official programming language created by Google as a better alternative to Java. This statically typed coding language is also thoroughly interoperable with Java. Kotlin Multiplatform, the cross-platform framework based upon this language, can be used to build apps with a shared codebase for all platforms, including IOS, Android, Web, and desktop.
Some of the key features of Kotlin and Kotlin Multiplatform include the following.
- Kotlin s well known for very concise and clean coding conventions devoid of the bulk of boilerplate code.
- Kotlin offers a Null Safety feature to get rid of the NullPointerException in the code.
- Kotlin doesn’t create an extra learning curve for developers with Java background simply because of its Interoperability with the Java language. The developers can use Java code alongside Kotlin while developing an app.
- Kotlin is completely ready to accommodate typecasting the immutable values in the code and automatically bringing the value within the safe cast.
- Kotlin helps developers build apps with an easy-to-use command line or by using any Java IDEs.
- Kotlin offers full support to extension properties and functions to extend and strengthen the functions of the classes without messing up the underlying code.
Comparing Flutter vs. Kotlin
So, we gave a fair understanding of the two technologies and their key features. But they also have significant differences in terms of value propositions. Let’s compare Flutter with Kotlin corresponding to the below-mentioned attributes.
App Performance
Flutter framework, because of its modular architecture and low-footprint Dart programming language, ensures fast loading speed and smooth performance. Dart language, because of clean coding, leaves fewer chances of bugs and coding errors, resulting in desired app performance.
As far as development time, developers with Flutter have the hot-reload feature allowing them to see the effect of coding changes in real-time or in running the app. This ensures faster development time.
When it comes to app performance, Kotlin Multiplatform is equally a great framework because of the low footprint and static code of Kotlin. Kotlin is known for clean and lean coding devoid of boilerplate code resulting in faster loading time and improved app performance.
Backend Support
The flutter developers get out-of-the-box support for the Google Firebase backend. Google has created Flutter keeping this integration of the Firebase backend in mind, and hence along with Firebase and Flutter frontend framework, we have nearly a full technology stack.
Kotlin, in this respect, equally proves to be great for both frontend and backend development. Kotlin language is also widely used for server-side development. By ensuring concise and low footprint code writing for both frontend and backend, Kotlin can help build truly performance-focused apps.
Modular and incremental development
These days, many app projects prefer an incremental development approach to address user feedback through development decisions and to keep the initial cost lower. Because of its modular architecture and widget-based development, Flutter is suited to this approach.
Kotlin, on the other hand, doesn’t offer much scope to build an app in a modular way over time. So, the incremental development and Minimum Viable Project (MVP) approach don’t really suit Kotlin.
Native UI/UX development
Flutter offers a robust repository of UI widgets covering both widgets for the Material Design principle of Android and Cupertino of Apple iOS. Despite reusing maximum code, Flutter ensures creating a highly platform-specific user interface and user experience for every platform.
Kotlin Multiplatform, on the other hand, doesn’t offer a modular architecture and widget repository that can be accessed to create UI and UX designs for particular OS platforms. Kotlin needs to rely on shaping the UI and UX from scratch.
Developer Community
Flutter continues to rise in popularity as the most versatile and dynamic cross-platform technology for app projects. Thanks to increasing popularity, the developer community backing Flutter is continuously increasing.
On the other hand, Kotlin Multiplatform still has little presence among cross-platform apps; particularly, it has a minuscule presence among iOS apps. But Kotlin, as the official Android language, has a continuously expanding presence in Google Play Store apps.
Conclusion
Though both the languages have their respective pros and cons, Flutter for cross-platform development has a clear edge over the Kotlin Multiplatform. But for native Android development projects, Kotlin is still the official and most popular technology.