Do you want to build a high-performance and feature-rich mobile app, right?
Well, that’s why, you’ve landed right on the post, looking to turn your app idea into reality!
If you’re tired of building apps or doing it for the very first time, “Flutter” undeniably stands tall as the “best” mobile app development framework.
But if you’re still facing difficulties then you might not be utilizing the true potential of Flutter.
Yes, you heard it right!
Unlike other state management solutions available for Flutter, one architecture that stands out is none other than the BLoC (Business Logic Component) architecture which is for its robustness and scalability.
So, are you ready to build a solid Flutter app with BLoC? Let’s dive into know ins and outs of this architecture.
What is Flutter BLoC Architecture?
To put it simply, BLoC is also known as the Business Logic Component, which is an important architectural pattern used in Flutter for the management of state, data, and business logic. If you are looking to build sustainable and scalable Flutter apps then it plays an incredibly important role. Furthermore, it provides a structured way to separate the presentation layer (UI) from the business logic layer. No matter whether you want to build reactive or performance-driven apps, BLoC architecture has got you covered.
But here’s the catch!
If you want to make the best use of the architecture, you should know its core components.
Top Components of BLoC Architecture You Should Know
Here are the key components and concepts of Flutter BLoC architecture:
1. Business Logic
It is the common and most important component included in BLoCs which helps perform a wide range of tasks, including data fetching, transformation, validation, and any other operations. Developers can easily leverage the component to reuse and test the app effortlessly.
2. Events
When it comes to app development, multiple events include user interactions or triggers, including text inputs, button clicks, or network requests. In the architecture, developers can make changes or actions without any difficulties. One of the major highlights of the “Events” is that they help developers to know the things to be done in the app. This, in turn, assists them to create intelligent algorithms.
3. States
Speaking of States, they represent the different snapshots or states of your application’s UI and data. Thus, it helps developers to learn about the user interface and data of the app and make changes, if necessary. Remember that each state signifies a detailed view and changes in state trigger UI updates.
4. Streams and Sinks
In the BLoC architecture, the main purpose of the streams and sinks is to manage asynchronous data flow without any difficulty. In this component, events are added to a sink and the BLoC throws state via a stream. Thus, it facilitates real-time updates and reactivity in the app.
5. StreamBuilder
When it comes to building the user interface section of the Flutter app, developers use the widget, i.e., ‘StreamBuilder’ to listen to the stream of states. The best thing about the widget is that it can easily rebuild the UI when new states are produced. Thus, it enables developers to view the current state of the app.
6. Dependency Injection
This component of the BLoC architecture is being widely used to provide external dependencies (data repositories) to keep the architecture decoupled and testable. Some of the common dependency injection libraries like get_it are used in conjunction with BLoC.
7. Testing
During mobile app development, testing is one of the crucial aspects that is hard to overlook. Developers can easily write unit tests to ensure that the app performs the way you want. Furthermore, you can even ask your developers to perform widget tests and integration tests to verify how BLoCs interact with the UI.
How to Use BLoC Architecture in Flutter to Build Apps?
There is no denying that the BLoC programming pattern may help you build a performance-oriented Flutter application that renders a smoother user experience. No matter what kind of app you want to build, implement these BLoC practices during development.
1. Optimize Business Logic
One of the biggest implementations of BLoC is optimizing business logic which can help avoid computationally expensive operations while keeping the classes efficient. Furthermore, it can help offload monotonous tasks to background isolates or dedicated compute threads using libraries like ‘compute’ or ‘Isolate’. Developers can even minimize the frequency of emitting state changes. If you don’t want to run into rebuilding unnecessary widgets, it’s better to update the UI.
2. Use StreamControllers Wisely
No matter what kind of Flutter app you want to build, ensure you use ‘StreamController’ cautiously. If you don’t want to face resource leaks then it’s better to close the controller when there is of no use. On the other hand, if you want to provide the best value to new subscribers then it’s wise to use ‘BehaviorSubject’ from the ‘rxdar’ package.
3. Efficiently Manage UI Updates
In the next step of BLoC architecture implementation, you should know how to use the StreamBuilder widget efficiently. Make sure you only wrap the parts of the UI that need the BLoC’s state with StreamBuilder, instead of wrapping large sections. Ensure you hire dedicated Flutter developers who can use ‘const’ constructors for widgets that don’t depend on the BLoC’s state to optimize widget rebuilds.
4. Minimize Widget Rebuilds
After that, you will need to use the ‘Equatable’ package as it will help determine when widgets need rebuilding. Thus, it would ultimately help optimize state comparison. All you have to do is simply implement the ‘==‘operator for your state classes, making state comparison more streamlined.
5. Lazy Loading and Caching
To make the most out of the BLoC architecture, you will need to focus on the data that doesn’t need to be loaded immediately. Try to implement “Lazy Loading”. Whenever a user interacts with the app, try to fetch the on-demand data. Furthermore, use caching mechanisms to store frequently accessed data to minimize the need for repeated network requests.
6. Handle Errors Gracefully
Implementing robust error handling within your BLoCs is crucial for creating a resilient Flutter application. Your app should be capable of managing errors gracefully by emitting specific error states and presenting appropriate error messages to users. This ensures a seamless user experience even when something goes wrong. To achieve this, use the ‘catchError’ method on streams. This method allows you to capture and handle errors effectively, ensuring that your application can respond to issues in a controlled and user-friendly manner.
7. Memory Management
Effective memory management is essential to maintain the performance and stability of your Flutter application. When BLoCs are no longer needed, ensure they are properly disposed of to prevent memory leaks. This includes disposing of any controllers and cancelling ongoing asynchronous operations associated with those BLoCs. Additionally, minimizes excessive object creation and destruction to avoid unnecessary memory usage and potential performance degradation.
8. Optimize Network Requests
When it comes down to optimizing network requests, you should focus on implementing efficient network request handling. Ensure you use caching, connection pools, and batch requests to reduce network overhead. Ask your developers to enforce paginated loading to manage complex datasets and avoid loading all data at once.
9. Performance Profiling
Make use of Flutter’s performance profiling tools, such as the DevTools suite, to pinpoint and resolve performance bottlenecks in your app. The DevTools suite provides a variety of tools for monitoring app performance, analyzing CPU and memory usage, and visualizing UI rendering.
10. Testing and Benchmarking
Developing comprehensive unit tests for your BLoC logic is crucial for maintaining high-performance standards. These tests help catch performance issues early in the development process and enable developers to address them before they affect the user experience. In addition to unit testing, consider implementing benchmarking techniques to measure your app’s performance.
11. Implement Dart’s Asynchronous Programming Features
Ask your Flutter app developers to use Dart’s asynchronous programming features, such as async/await and Future, to write clean and efficient asynchronous code. These features allow you to manage complex asynchronous operations in a simple and readable manner. This, in turn, will help enhance both the speed and efficiency of your Flutter app development.
12. Stay Updated
Last but not least, you should stay updated with the latest trends in the Flutter ecosystem. To ensure your Flutter applications remain robust and efficient, it’s essential to stay up-to-date with the latest Flutter and BLoC-related updates. Ask your Flutter app developers to keep an eye on the latest features, packages, and best practices to enhance your app’s functionality and efficiency.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it! It is no secret that building a high-quality and performance-oriented app demands an additional set of requirements. Thus, you should know how to make the best use of the BLoC architecture to unleash the true potential of Flutter and turn your app idea into reality.
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We are a leading Flutter app development company that offers complete Flutter app development services to build high-performance apps that facilitate intuitive interfaces, seamless user experiences, and robust functionality.So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us at +1(812)530-6300 or mail your queries to info@eitbiz.com to get a free consultation from our Flutter app developers!
