Hello guys, in this article, I will be sharing my journey of transitioning from a PHP Developer to a Flutter Developer. So, without further ado, let's dive in,
I began my career in August 2019 as a PHP Developer, I secured my first job as a PHP Developer. My responsibilities included working with PHP CMS and its frameworks, such as SocialEngine, Laravel, and Codeigniter, developing REST APIs, and managing servers. I spent over a year in this role, honing my skills as a backend developer and constantly learning.
Switching to Flutter: The Backstory
One day, my manager scheduled a meeting with all the developers. He told us they were developing a hybrid app with Cordova, but it wasn't meeting our requirements as expected, so he planned to switch technologies and build the app natively in Android and iOS. After that, he asked if you guys had any suggestions.
Somewhere I read that Flutter was developed in 2018 and it was better than other cross-platform app development tools. After that, I suggested we could develop cross-platform applications with Flutter, and it's developed by Google and is booming in the market, so moving into the native app will be more expensive and time-consuming, and it would be best if we went ahead with Flutter.
My manager then said okay, but nobody in our team knows Flutter, and we have already hired an iOS developer. I expressed my eagerness to learn Flutter. My manager told me I already had a lot of work with PHP. But I expressed my interest in learning Flutter and told him I was confident that we would make a great app with it. Despite this, my manager told me that I still needed to handle my PHP work, and there wouldn't be any extra pay for it. Nevertheless, I agreed to take on this challenge.
Then, my new colleague who was an iOS developer, and I started to learn Flutter. Our manager provided us with a udemy Flutter course by Dr. Angela Yu, which turned out to be an amazing experience.
Challenges
My transition to becoming a Flutter developer was initially challenging as I had to balance learning the new framework while still fulfilling my responsibilities as a PHP developer. The first month was demanding, but I persevered. One of my biggest obstacles was understanding asynchronous programming, as well as getting familiar with the Flutter syntax and design. I also faced challenges when it came to managing state. However, I was determined to overcome these obstacles and I dedicated extra time and effort to learning, seeking out resources, and reaching out to more experienced Flutter developers for guidance. My persistence paid off as I was able to gain a deeper understanding of these concepts and feel more confident in my ability to work with Flutter.
Journey of Learning
My journey of learning Flutter was a combination of various techniques that helped me to make steady progress. As a web developer, I leveraged my past experience to learn the basics of Flutter quickly. To further deepen my knowledge, I reviewed other developers' code on GitHub, watched educational videos on YouTube, and reached out to Flutter experts on LinkedIn for advice. Talking to my colleagues and discussing problems together also helped me find solutions and grow my understanding.
In addition to these resources, I actively participated in the Flutter community online. This provided me with the opportunity to network with other developers, exchange ideas and learn from their experiences. To apply what I learned, I worked on personal projects, as well as following tutorials, and took online courses.
Maintaining a positive and growth mindset was key to my success. I saw challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, and having a strong support system, whether it be a mentor, peer group or online community, helped to keep me motivated. Overall, the journey of learning Flutter was a rewarding and exciting one, and I am eager to continue exploring its capabilities and contributing to its growth.
Future Of Flutter
Flutter is a rapidly growing, open-source framework for developing mobile, web, and desktop applications. With its easy-to-learn and expressive syntax, Flutter is quickly gaining popularity among developers worldwide. The future of Flutter looks bright as it continues to evolve and improve, offering a wider range of features and capabilities for developers. In the near future, we can expect Flutter to further establish itself as a go-to choice for cross-platform app development, with a growing community of developers and companies contributing to its growth. The ability to create beautiful, high-performing apps with a single codebase has already made Flutter a popular choice for app development, and this trend is expected to continue. With Google's continued investment in Flutter, it is well positioned to become the dominant platform for app development in the coming years.
Flutter has become a top choice for top companies worldwide, and the demand for skilled Flutter developers remains strong in the current job market. Companies are in pursuit of experienced Flutter developers to join their teams. It is clear that Flutter has a bright future ahead of it.
Flutter resources
If you are interested in learning Flutter, there are many resources that can help you learn and improve your skills. Here are some of the best options:
- Official Flutter documentation: A great starting point to understand the basics and framework architecture.
- Online courses: Take a comprehensive course on platforms like Udemy or Coursera to learn interactively.
- YouTube tutorials: Watch Flutter tutorials by skilled developers to learn new concepts and see practical examples.
- Flutter community: Connect with other Flutter developers, ask questions, and learn from others through online forums and communities.
- GitHub: Explore Flutter projects on GitHub to see how other developers build and structure their apps.
- Flutter Weekly Newsletter: Keep up-to-date with the latest developments in the Flutter community.
- Books and e-books: Read comprehensive books and e-books on Flutter development to learn from the basics to advanced topics.
My plan for the future
My plan for the future with Flutter includes several important goals:
- Publish packages on pub.dev to showcase my skills and help others.
- Participate in online events and speak about my experiences with Flutter.
- Attend conferences and speak to connect with other Flutter developers and exchange ideas.
- Build a strong network of like-minded individuals who share my passion for Flutter and software development.
The overall objective is to become an active member of the Flutter community, contribute to its growth, and support others in their own goals with the framework.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my journey from a PHP developer to a Flutter developer was a challenging but rewarding experience. I faced many obstacles along the way, but my persistence and eagerness to learn helped me overcome them. I found several resources that helped me along the way, such as online courses, YouTube tutorials, and the Flutter community. Flutter is a rapidly growing framework for app development, and its future looks bright with the continued support from Google and a growing demand for skilled Flutter developers. Whether you are an experienced developer or just starting out, learning Flutter can open up new opportunities and provide a promising future in the world of app development.