To get the most out of this book

To get started, all you need is to have access to a browser so you can use the DartPad website and play with Dart code. However, to develop a full Flutter app, you will need an integrated development environment (IDE) such as Android Studio or Visual Studio Code.

To professionally develop and publish iOS apps, you will need a developer license (paid annually), a Mac, and at least one physical iOS device to test the applications. Similarly, for Android, you will need a developer license (one-off payment) but can use any major operating system. All this is not strictly necessary for the purpose of learning Flutter, but if you aim to release an app at some point, then you will need to bear these requirements in mind.

The entire installation process and the requirements of the Flutter environment are available on the official Flutter website (https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/install), but do not worry: you can start with the bare minimum and install any extras only when necessary.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.