The world of mobile app development is dynamic and that is why creating high-quality mobile applications is quite critical and important.
One of the best solutions presented by Google for creating powerful cross-platform mobile apps is Flutter. It is this incredible toolkit that makes cross-platform app development quite easy for developers using a single code base.
Flutter is arguably one of the best, most reliable and robust methods of creating cross-platform mobile apps.
If you look at these stats from a survey done in 2022 then you are going to find that most app developers love using Flutter when it comes to cross-platform mobile app development.
Additionally, 12.56% of the 41,060 respondents in this survey say that they utilise Flutter for its remarkable capabilities and it sits just below React Native which is also one of the most popular app development tools.
Furthermore, if you look at the responses from people who are just starting to learn code then we can also find them loving Flutter.
This speaks volumes of the popularity of this incredible platform.
Flutter is excellent as it is but if you really want to unlock the incredible potential Flutter has to offer in the form of the best development process along with its advantages then you need to look at Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.
Today we are going to look at something within Flutter in the form of a development pipeline for the implementation and delivery of code reliably and frequently.
We are talking about the CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) pipeline for Flutter.
CI/CD pipelines can be utilised for multiple purposes such as automating the entire testing process of the application as well as automatic the building and deployment of the application and in general making the development process of the application much more fluid and seamless.
In this blog, we will understand how Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines can dramatically improve app development with Flutter as we understand what CI/CD pipelines actually mean.
Let us start by understanding CI/CD pipelines and what they mean and then we can move on to the benefits of these pipelines and how they can transform your flutter experience.
What are CI/CD Pipelines in Flutter?
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines are an app development practice used by developers to integrate code and automate various app development processes.
These are a set of automated workflows designed to bring excellent levels of speed and efficiency to the entire development process.
If we talk about Continuous Integration (CI) then it is when you get to automate various tests and verify changes and then add them to the main branch of the repository. This makes development quite easy and fast.
Continuous Deployment (CD) is basically when you automate the deployment of these continuous integrated codes.
If you bring the functionality and convenience of Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) to Flutter app development then you can get to see fast phases of development.
The Continuous Integration (CI) process consists of different stages which include committing the code and automating the testing process as well as error checking. We also have the integration of the code and the building of artefacts.
When it comes to the Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CD) process, it consists of the artifact storage process as well as environment configuration and deployment. This is usually followed by the testing process and finally, we have additional tasks as a part of steps after the deployment process.
Benefits Of CI/CD for Flutter Projects
Accelerated Development Cycles
One of the most important things we need to understand about the utilisation of Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) in Flutter is that it helps with accelerated development cycles.
Flutter is already very good with fast development cycles but things can take some time with tasks such as the testing phase of development as well as other important stages such as building the app and deployment.
What CI/CD brings to the table is that it helps in the automation of repetitive tasks in the form of testing the code and deployment.
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) also enables developers to focus on features rather than the operation overhead.
You can also expect better and faster code iterations with Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD).
Efficient Team Collaboration
Team collaboration is something that we simply cannot take for granted and that is why Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) in Flutter is so important.
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) is all about enabling the collaboration of multiple developers on a single code base and increasing the integration of code changes much more effectively.
Along with that CI/CD is also excellent when it comes to the resolution of different code conflicts and along with that you also get stability in the code base.
Additionally, you can expect better communication and coordination between the different team members when it comes to pushing automatic updates and automated testing.
Enhanced Code Quality
One of the things that does not really get talked about a lot is the quality of the code when it comes to Flutter and this is not because it is a bad platform for developing apps but because of inconsistent testing and integration practices.
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) actually solve this issue simply because it brings automatic testing into the table.
When we talk about automated testing it includes everything from unit testing to integration as well as user interface at testing. You can assign these tests to every code commit or pull request.
Additionally, you can integrate different kinds of tools within Flutter in order to detect early issues with Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD).
Apart from that, you can also ensure that every change in the code is validated with the help of automatic testing so that you can always stop a bug from reaching production.
This is why CI/CD workflows are loved by developers.
Platform-Specific Build Automation
Flutter is primarily used as a cross-platform app development tool and that is why you can build iOS apps as well as Android and even desktop and web apps with it.
The problem with Flutter can be that if you are utilising a single codebase then developing apps for multiple platforms can be quite time-consuming and intensive.
That is where Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) come in handy because it automates the entire process of creating builds for different platforms from a single codebase.
Along with that it also helps in the handling of different build configurations in the form of debugging as well as teaching and production of all the different platforms.
This saves a lot of time and effort for the developer when they want to create applications for different platforms as Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) take into account the different platform-specific dependencies and configurations.
Continuous Testing and Validation
One of the biggest selling points of the combination of Flutter and Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) is in the area of continuous testing and validation.
Manual testing can be quite inconsistent and even resource-intensive in Flutter and it is also going to be quite troublesome for the developer to manually continuously keep on testing units and much more.
That is where we come to one of the key advantages of Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) as it ensures that every change in the code is tested automatically before its integration.
Along with that CI/CD has support for different kinds of testing whether it is integration tests, widget tests, end-to-end tests and much more.
When you bring this level of continuous testing and validation into the process, it automates the bringing in of new changes and also reduces or even eliminates the chances of bugs entering the final project after deployment.
Streamlined Deployment Processes
When it comes to Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD), you can expect the deployment process to be completely transformed.
This is because Flutter is primarily used to deal with multiple platforms and multiple production and managements where deployment is complicated and consists of different repetitive steps.
With Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD), you can expect automated deployment workflows and along with that, you can also use tools that enable something like this such as Firebase App Distribution.
Additionally, you can also ensure consistent deployment practices and even expect an improvement in speed in the deployment process with the help of these automated steps and that ultimately enables faster updates and even faster rollouts.
Scalability and Flexibility
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) brings flexibility and scalability to the table as they allow the managing of multiple tests and builds as well as deployments quite easily.
This is because Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines are easy to scale and can easily be adapted for larger and complicated projects.
The benefit of this is that it allows for the addition of new tests and environments and also deployment workflows without causing any issues with the existing processes.
Along with that, you can also expect Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) to integrate with existing third-party tools as well as new ones.
This helps with the monitoring and analysis of the entire development process and it is also excellent for performance optimisation.
That is why CI/CD pipelines facilitate faster deployment of products into the market because of how flexible they are and it also enables the delivery of MVPs at a much more manageable rate.
Robust Monitoring and Feedback
Your product can only be as good as your development and you can only monitor the performance of the product with the help of regular feedback and robust monitoring.
That is exactly why Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) is all about facilitating and integrating with different monitoring tools that help in the real-time feedback of different apps and their performance.
We are talking about tools such as Firebase Crashlytics or Sentry as they help with understanding different crashes and user behaviour and they also help in data-driven improvements.
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) enables for automatic rollbacks when it comes to critical issues and it is excellent for maintaining user trust and much more.
Improved Developer Experience
And finally, we come to one of the most important reasons why Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) is utilised in Flutter by developers all over the world.
We are talking about improved developer experience as repetitive and manual tasks can have a negative impact on the overall experience of the developer.
These repetitive tasks stop the developer from innovating and they can get frustrated with continuously having to run different tests institute of doing what they do best.
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) enables developers to automate different tasks and in addition to that, it also enables easy feedback in the form of real-time insights and much more.
This makes the entire development process quite productive and it also helps in moving products much faster into the market and it also enables the development teams to push updates and features faster.
When you let professionals do what they are actually good at then they can feel a sense of accomplishment and it improves the overall morale of the development team.
That is why Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) are loved by developers.
We hope you now understand the powerful combination of flutter and Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD).
If you are someone willing to hire professionals with extensive experience in Flutter app development with Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines in Flutter, we are here for you.
We are Think To Share IT Solutions and we are among the fastest-growing and most popular Flutter app developers in the industry that specifically uses Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment/Delivery (CI/CD).
Along with that, we also have extensive experience in cross-platform app development whether it is Android or iOS as well as Windows and even web app development.
Additionally, we also have extensive AI integration and cloud migration solutions experience and we can pair that with our renowned IT solutions and services to provide you custom tailored solutions.
We welcome you to visit our website and check out everything we do.
