At my job at Twiage, we maintain a Flutter project called STAT, which is a complete rewrite of a native mobile application. To be honest, I was never a fan of Flutter or Dart — I always felt uncomfortable working with them.
Since 2020, I’ve been experimenting with both Flutter and React Native, and until very recently, React Native was my go-to choice for cross-platform mobile development. Flutter always felt clunky in comparison, and I used to write it off as “crappy.”
What made me love React Native:
- Built-in support for TypeScript
- Huge and active JavaScript community
- Compatibility with 99% of existing JS libraries
- Simple and fast installation
- Expo makes life easier
I’ve had the chance to work with React Native up to version 0.72.0, and I’m always bragging about that 🥹
Why I Initially Disliked Flutter
My frustration with Flutter mainly came from two things:
- It directly competes with React Native.
- It uses Dart, a language that’s not JavaScript and doesn’t even try to be.
Dart: My Old Enemy
I’ll be honest — I held a grudge against Dart for trying to replace JavaScript. Dart isn’t backward-compatible with JS, nor does it share much of the syntax. It’s an entirely different beast, and for a long time, I just didn’t want to learn it.
Installing Flutter the Right Way (with ASDF)
Now that I’ve made peace with Flutter, let’s talk about how to install it properly. Installing Flutter can be frustrating, especially when dealing with JDK version issues and path configuration. That’s where asdf comes in — a version manager that saved me a ton of time and headaches.
Here’s a step-by-step guide for setting up Flutter with ASDF:
Step 1: Install Flutter via ASDF
asdf plugin add flutter
asdf install flutter latestStep 2: Set Up the Correct JDK Version
You’ll likely run into a warning about the JDK version when running flutter doctor. Flutter expects a very specific JDK version — usually JDK 17.
asdf plugin add java
asdf install java adoptopenjdk-17.0.0+12
asdf local java adoptopenjdk-17.0.0+12Now, point Flutter to the correct JDK directory:
flutter config --jdk-dir $(asdf where java)Step 3: Create and Run a Flutter Project
flutter create myapp
cd myapp
flutter runFinal Thoughts
Despite my rocky start with Flutter and Dart, I’ve started to appreciate what they bring to the table. With the help of asdf, installing and managing Flutter and Java versions becomes way more manageable — especially in a multi-language development environment.
If you’re coming from React Native, I get you. The transition can be frustrating. But tools like asdf make Flutter more approachable.
For more on asdf, check out their official docs. And if you have any questions or need help with your mobile development setup, feel free to reach out.