Flutter and ChatGPT: Revolutionising App Development while Ensuring IP Compliance

Author(s): Ketan Bhavsar

Originally published on Towards AI.

In today’s digital era, mobile and web applications have become a crucial part of our lives. Building these applications is a complex process that involves multiple stages and requires a significant amount of time, effort, and resources. However, with the advancement of AI-assisted development tools, we can now create high-quality applications in less time and with greater ease.

Overview

As a developer, I’m always on the lookout for new tools and technologies that can help me be more productive and efficient. Recently, I started exploring the possibilities of AI-assisted development with Flutter, a popular cross-platform framework for building mobile and web applications. In this article, I’ll share my experience and learnings from building a sample app with Flutter and ChatGPT.

Before we dive into it, let’s talk about why I chose to use AI tools for this project. As a practice head in a large organization, I’m always looking for ways to improve our development processes and make them more efficient. AI-assisted development is one such way that can help us save time and effort by automating repetitive tasks and suggesting code snippets based on context. In this project, I wanted to explore how AI tools can help me speed up development with Flutter.

Flutter, a cross-platform framework that enables developers to build high-quality mobile and web applications with a single codebase that can run on Android, iOS, Web, Mac, Windows, and Linux. In this article, we will discuss how AI-assisted development with Flutter can benefit developers and organizations.

I will cover 3 things in this article –

• Benefits of AI-assisted Development with Flutter
• Considerations for Choosing AI Tools in an IP-Sensitive Organisation
• Demo with Flutter and ChatGPT

Benefits of AI-assisted Development with Flutter

Cross-Platform Capabilities

Flutter’s cross-platform capabilities enable developers to create one codebase that powers applications across multiple platforms. This feature significantly reduces development time and costs and ensures that the application works seamlessly across different devices.

Faster Development Cycles

AI-assisted development with Flutter provides a faster development cycle. Developers can use pre-built widgets and tools to create visually appealing and responsive applications quickly. This feature saves time and allows developers to focus on other aspects of the application, such as user experience and functionality.

Improved Quality and Performance

Flutter’s pre-built widgets and tools provide a consistent and robust user experience across different platforms. Additionally, Flutter’s fast development cycles enable developers to quickly test and debug their applications, ensuring high-quality and high-performance applications.

Customization

Flutter allows developers to customize their applications according to their specific needs. This feature enables developers to create unique and visually appealing applications that stand out from the competition.

Considerations for Choosing AI Tools in an IP-Sensitive Organisation

While AI-assisted development with Flutter provides several benefits, it is essential to consider certain factors when choosing an AI tool for an IP-sensitive organization.

Some of these considerations include:

Security and Privacy

The AI tool should have robust security features to protect sensitive data and code from unauthorized access, modification, or theft.

IP Ownership

Ensure that the AI tool’s terms of service and licensing agreement align with the organization’s IP ownership policies. The tool should not claim ownership or control over any IP generated using it.

Compliance

Verify that the AI tool complies with relevant regulations and industry standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001.

Transparency

Look for AI tools that provide clear explanations of their algorithms and decision-making processes, as well as any limitations or biases in their outputs.

Scalability

Consider the scalability of the AI tool, both in terms of its ability to handle large amounts of data and its compatibility with the organization’s existing tech stack.

Vendor Support

Evaluate the vendor’s reputation, experience, and customer support capabilities, as well as their ability to provide timely updates and bug fixes.

Customisability

Determine the degree to which the AI tool can be customized and integrated into the organization’s existing workflows and development processes.

Cost

Consider the cost-benefit analysis of using the AI tool, factoring in the potential benefits of increased efficiency, reduced development time, and improved outcomes, as well as any licensing or subscription fees.

Demo — Flutter with ChatGPT

To better illustrate the benefits of AI-assisted development with Flutter, let’s create code from ChatGPT that displays a list of articles. The application will have a home screen that shows a pre-populated list of articles and a search feature that allows users to search for articles by keyword.

So, when I asked ChatGPT to share code for the above prompt, it quickly generated a complete snippet of the Home Screen with a sample pre-populated list of articles.

Snippet 1 — Home Screen with search icon button on the app bar and a list

This code has literally everything we need to get started on the page. I have just augmented it a bit to implement the navigation to the ArticleDetailsPage and fix some lint issues like the use of const, etc.

Snippet 2 — SearchDelegate for the articles list

Snippet 3 — ArticleDetailsPage

I am amazed by how great this details page turned out! It flawlessly adheres to the design guidelines for font weights and colors for all screen elements, giving it a professional and polished look that makes it seem almost ready for deployment.

Output

This would have taken me a couple of hours to build on my own, but with the help of ChatGPT, I was able to create it in less than 10 minutes! The code generation was so fast, it was even quicker than setting up the Flutter project and testing it on the Simulator! Incredible!

Although this was a simpler use case, ChatGPT does wonders with other complicated aspects of the development as well. On another tryout, I was able to create a fully functional Firebase Mobile Authentication flow through it. I will soon share findings from that exploration as well in my next articles!

Conclusion

Overall, I found that using AI tools such as ChatGPT was a great way to speed up the development process and reduce the amount of boilerplate code that I had to write. However, it’s important to keep in mind that AI tools are not a replacement for human developers and should be used as a complement to their skills.

In conclusion, I hope this article has given you a glimpse into the possibilities of AI-assisted development with Flutter. By using AI tools to automate repetitive tasks and suggest code snippets, we can save time and effort and focus on building high-quality, user-friendly applications. AI-assisted development with Flutter will completely be transforming the way we build mobile and web applications.

As a fellow AI enthusiast, I would love to hear your views and experiences around AI-assisted development! What is it that you were able to achieve? How has it helped you speed up your development and delivery? Let’s have a conversation about some opportunities.

My LinkedIn is open for connections and discussions.

Disclaimer: Please note that all views and opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not reflect the views or commitments of my organization. This disclaimer is intended to keep my personal views separate from those of the organization and to prevent any legal complications that may arise from misinterpretation or misrepresentation. Thank you for understanding.

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