Dart debuted in the development community in 2011, heralded as a computer language optimised for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and various other device platforms. Dart was created to compete with JavaScript’s versatile web compatibility and mobile design features. Indeed, Google demonstrated its faith in Dart’s ability to replace JavaScript by including it as one of the foundational language families for its Fuchsia operating system.
Dart’s early success can be attributed to direct browser support, which eliminated the need for a JavaScript compiler. However, adoption has been slow. A 2018 Codementor survey even advised developers to avoid learning the language due to a lack of support from the community and Dart-specific job opportunities.
The recent push by enterprise-level organisations to build iPhone and android mobile apps are likely to fuel growing interest in Dart. Moreover, Google’s release of the Flutter SDK, which is mainly designed to assist developers in creating natively compiled apps, has undoubtedly reinforced Dart’s importance as a speech worth learning. Since then, a Stack Overflow survey has identified Flutter as among the most popular design techniques for 2020.
Dart’s Origins
On October 10th, 2011, two Google engineers introduced “Dart” as a brand new programming language designed to help developers build web applications at the GOTO conference.
The original project had been in a state of limbo since its inception. But something has changed in the last decade since. Dart’s primary focus has shifted, and the language is now used in many projects. And, as is customary in the tech world, everything that comes from Google is met with great enthusiasm.
Anyway, let’s not go into too much detail about why and how Dart came to be. The point is, it is more than it was initially intended to be. Are sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Javascript, too, has evolved in this manner. On the other hand, it is far superior in language to Javascript. Keep reading if you’re beginning to wonder why you should care about Dart.
Dart Programming Characteristics
Before we get into why you should learn Dart programming, let’s take a look at some of the language’s key features.
JavaScript-compatible
Dart applications can be run in any modern browser by compiling your code to JavaScript.
Let’s look at some specific strong points that developers might find appealing enough to add to their coding knowledge base.
Entirely object-oriented
Dart programmers are expected to use classes. This is in contrast to JavaScript, which allows you to use or not use categories. You have no choice but to include classes with it. Interfaces, mixins, abstract classes, reified generics, static typing, and a sound type system are all supported.
ViewModel Development
In sophisticated Android app development, we are shifting away from activities and toward Fragments. It is expected that we will move away from Fragments and toward Jetpack composable features and functionality in the years ahead. When a Fragment or a Jetpack is displayed as a screen, we must create an existing example of the linked ViewModel.
Isolates
For concurrency, the Dart language employs isolates rather than threads. Isolates do not share memory; instead, information is passed between them via messages.
It is easier to see why any ardent programmer should learn Dart with these features.
Typed if desired
Dart is optionally typed, whereas most programming languages are either typed or not. The language gives you the option of declaring the variables or using them without declaring them. This is in contrast to JavaScript, which is not a typed language.
Dart is still a language worth learning for 9 reasons.
Dart has embraced the open-source community.
Open source is popular among developers. The entire technology industry is smitten with open source tools. Dart won the hearts of many developers worldwide by accepting the open source ecosphere from the beginning.
Dart appears to be a direct competitor to Java, a proprietary language with which Google is currently having issues. In many ways, It is a million times better than Java.
If you have an idea for the Dart SDK, you can incorporate it yourself and submit a proposition. You can report a bug immediately or fix it yourself if you find a bug.
This is something that a proprietary language cannot do. That is why proprietary software frequently becomes stagnant and stale over time. However, open-source software is always alive and well.
You don’t need as many things in Dart as you would in Java:
- You do not need to be concerned about licencing issues.
- Nobody is going to sue you for using the language someday.
- You don’t have to pay anyone or any company to use the programming language —
After all, when you put in all of your effort and expert knowledge to build and distribute a product and function properly day and evening on it, the last thing you want to see is all of your money disappearing into the bank accounts of other companies.
Darts are relatively simple to learn.
I must admit that the prospect of learning a new language still gives me shivers. It takes time, hard work, and patience to learn a language. It’s not just about learning the language; it’s also about its ecosystem, terminologies, getting the right tools and SDKs for the language, and then starting to move on to the popular libraries for that language.
But since I had to learn Dart, I realised how simple and intuitive it was. Indeed, as many developers have stated about it, you may already be familiar with it.
If you already get some programming skills in any language, you can be pretty productive in Dart in weeks.
I’m not saying there’s nothing innovative in Dart, but the inventive concepts are indeed very straightforward and won’t be too long to master.
Dart is an excellent first language.
While I did not learn Dart for my first programming language, it occurred to me that it would be an excellent language to know before anything else. I wish Dart had been around when I was beginning out.
To begin with, getting started with Dart is simple. You don’t even need to install anything if you’re trying it out. Foremost, the team has an innovation model and tutorial and solid documentation. Their tutorial is simple enough to follow, and Google ensured that anyone could get started with Dart as quickly as possible.
Finally, the syntax is easy, the society is already fantastic, and more and more people flock to Dart. Also, because it is so consistent with Javascript, more Javascript designers switch.
Dart provides excellent tooling support.
Dart has a plethora of tooling support. It is well supported by almost every primary text editor and IDE. You can use powerful IDEs such as Webstorm, IntelliJ IDEA, and Android Studio, or simple editors such as VS Code, Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, Atom, and others. As a result, you are free to work with whichever Editor you prefer.
Dart is a robust programming language.
Dart is a very robust programming language. Google created it with the primary goal of leveraging C-based Object-oriented programming Programming languages such as C# and Java. Because it is also a general-purpose language of programming, it compiles quickly and concisely.
Dart is a reasonably strong language in terms of syntax. It’s fast, dependable, and efficient, and because a tech behemoth heavily uses it, community adoption is skyrocketing.
Dart ensures productivity.
Dart, aside from being easy, takes productive capacity seriously. Who doesn’t want to get more done with much less code?
The Dart language emphasises its clean, intuitive, concise, and simple syntax.
It can be used as a perfectly functioning language despite being fully object-oriented. Furthermore, the built-in support for strong type checking makes it an excellent choice for large projects requiring a large team of developers. Dart also comes with an extensive collection of libraries and frameworks. There’s also no strange catch like there is in Javascript.
Flutter makes use of Dart.
Dart only became popular among developers after the Flutter project gained traction. Even though it is a fantastic language with great productivity software and documentary evidence from its inception, who cares about language when it isn’t used in manufacturing by large corporations?
But now we’ve reached the point where you can do practical work with it after gaining knowledge of Dart. Companies now use Flutter, and developers use Dart by default in manufacturing. Furthermore, a sizable developer community is eager to share knowledge, experiences, and learning journey. If you haven’t already, I believe now is an excellent time to begin learning Dart.
Because their current knowledge is easily translatable, React Native developers find it incredibly simple, to begin with, Flutter.
A tech behemoth supports Dart.
You can be concerned about everything else regarding the Dart language, but you should never be concerned about the language’s development and maintenance. It is one of Google’s fastest-growing languages, and it is used by many of its internal products, including Adwords, Flutter, Fuchsia, AngularDart, and others. Outside of Google, this language is used in Alibaba, Adobe, MailChimp, and JetBrains production.
Companies frequently develop new languages but keep them proprietary. Dart is open source from the start, so developers never had to worry about licencing issues or other nonsense.
Even if Google declares bankruptcy (yeah, keep smiling), Dart should not go down quickly because it is open source.
Dart efficiently solved a large number of problems.
Dart could be compiled AOT or JIT. Flutter took advantage of this feature because JIT compendium speeds up advancement while AOT compilation provides better optimisation during release.
It appears to be very efficient at what it does. Javascript was never intended to be used so extensively. It was a simple javascript framework designed to add interactivity to website browsing. Javascript is now a true jack of all trades. You can use it to create web apps, mobile applications, desktop applications, servers, and other crazy things.
We’re using Javascript in ways it was never meant to be used in the first place.
Dart, on the other hand, is unique. Dart’s development team approached the project with a cross-platform attitude from the start. It solves many problems more efficiently than the Java language because it was designed.
Bottom Line
I’ve been developing application forms and working on projects for a long time. You want to be paid for your work, but that isn’t the only thing you want, is it? Dart has smoothed out the developer experience with almost no friction between such a development company and the language.
Most excellent software developers do it not because they expect to be paid or praised by the public but because it is enjoyable to programme.
Dart is quickly supplanting other bloated languages. It’s quick and straightforward to pick up. It’s a fantastic tool that solves many problems and ensures productivity. So, let’s put it to use.
