If you clicked on this article, you're probably wondering whether you should use React Native or Flutter to develop your mobile application. Well, you came to the right place because I'm going to finally answer that question for you.
Building a cross-platform mobile application is trending these days with the large number of frameworks available for us to use. But there are two main frameworks that stand out and are trending these days: React Native and Flutter.
React Native and Flutter are two of the most popular cross-platform frameworks used to build millions of applications every single day.
So, the question is, which one do you want to use, and which one is more beneficial for you?
Well, to put it simply, there are several factors that we have to look at to come to a proper conclusion.
React Native and Flutter come with a lot of similarities, like:
One code base
Hot reloading
Excellent UI
These features are all implemented within these two frameworks, but they do have a lot of differences, and it's important to explore those before making a final choice.
To get started, we need to consider:
Who made it?
Framework popularity
Performance comparison
Opportunities for employment
Who made it?
Jumping onto the subject of who developed React Native and Flutter. Well, you might already know this, but for those who don't, they have been developed by two of the biggest tech giants in the world. One of them is Google, which developed Flutter, and the other one is React Native, which was developed by Facebook.
Now, there isn't much to say about this. I reckon most of you think that Google and Facebook are extremely great tech companies, so at this point, we can only say that React Native and Flutter are both winners in this category.
Framework popularity
Now, onto framework popularity within the developer community. I think this is very important and probably a really good sign of what's to come in the future and what you should be looking into and trying to learn.
Now, if you look at the Stack Overflow survey of 2020, many developers were asked what is the most loved framework, and you can clearly see that Flutter has won over React Native.
One thing to bear in mind is that React Native has been in the market for a really long time, and Flutter has only been out in the market for a couple of years now. The fact that Flutter is just over 2 years old and it's already making such a big appeal to people over React Native.
Just signifies that it has a strong future. Now we'll see next year when the 2021 Stack Overflow survey rankings come in how people's minds changed, but to me, the winner of this category when it comes to popularity is definitely Flutter.
Performance comparison
Now let's talk about the performance between React Native and Flutter. Flutter uses Dart, and Dart doesn't need to have this JavaScript bridge like React Native does to interact with its native components.
Actually, Dart directly compiles to machine code, which just tells us that it's so much faster than React Native when it comes to performance. I reckon in the future when we start to create much more intense software for mobile apps, the fact of performance will be extremely big criteria when it comes to deciding which framework to use.
So, the winner of this category is most certainly Flutter.
What are the opportunities for employment?
Now when it comes to employment opportunities, it's pretty simple to answer a question. Well, obviously, React Native will have bigger employment opportunities, and by bigger employment opportunities, I mean more companies will want to hire you as a React Native developer. But why is that?
Well, it's not just because React Native is better. It's because React Native has been out in the market for a substantially longer time than Flutter. But if you actually look into how much change Flutter is causing in the software developer market, it seems like Flutter is starting to become an extremely big competitor, and I reckon in about two or three years' time, Flutter might as well become something that's the new thing for mobile development, but we don't know that yet, and we have to go with what we already know, and we can't start predicting things.
So, when it comes to picking a framework that will benefit you in finding a job in the mobile development industry, it will probably be React Native.
There have been some surveys done by the Stack Overflow survey of 2020 asking people which one of these frameworks is the most wanted, and the results spoke for themselves.
React Native was more wanted than Flutter.
At this point, what you should learn if you are really looking for a job then the winner of this category is React Native, but and a big BUT that might as well change in the future.
From my own perspective, seeing how much attention Flutter is getting, it seems like it might be a better choice for all those new people who are still at university wanting to learn something as a skill.
Conclusion
Again we're moving away from native development in iOS and Android and starting to embrace new technologies that are allowing us for cross-platform mobile development.
Now, the final question: which framework should you use?
Well, there are certain concrete points that will determine whether you should use one or the other. Well, let's just assume that you are an individual who wants to get into mobile app development. Now, if you're planning to go and work for Google, well, you should then definitely learn Flutter. If you're planning to be an individual who works for Facebook, then also in that case, you should learn React Native. It is important for you to look into the company and what you're using, but also it is important for you to look into the future and think of what's beneficial.
Now, with the way that Flutter is growing, I would say that for the majority of people who are still at university thinking of computer science and thinking about mobile development, then Flutter is something that should definitely learn.
When it comes to React Native, I think it's still going to be with us for many new years, but I reckon as time moves on and new projects will come in, way more people will be using Flutter than React Native to develop those mobile applications. Purely because of the advantages that Flutter will offer in the future when it comes to performance. But we also have to consider the fact that React Native is written in JavaScript, and I don't think Dart will become one of the most popular languages in the world.
Now if you ask me for my opinion, like I said, if you're still not in the industry, not looking for a job right away, and you have time to look into a new language and learn some new stuff, I will definitely learn Flutter. But if you're someone who has already graduated and in the process of looking for a job or changing careers to mobile development (with a basic knowledge of JavaScript), then I think you should stick with React Native.