What does being a part of Flutter Group at Droids On Roids look like? Flutter Developers share their stories

⚡️ Why Flutter?

Some of them previously worked in native technologies, some started their commercial adventure with programming in Flutter itself. What’s their story?

.Jakub: I started my adventure with mobile technologies starting with React Native, which I used to create an application. When looking for materials on YouTube about this topic, I saw quite a lot of RN vs. Flutter comparisons. After seeing 2-3 such comparative materials, I got interested in this Google framework. Even though I was skeptical at first – because I knew I’d have to start from scratch – I gave Flutter a shot after a few days. No other technology has been so fun for writing code! I started to create my own designs, and to this day I’m part of the Flutter world.

.Sebastian: When Flutter 1.0 came out in December 2018, I decided to give it a try and have been in love ever since: with the possibilities, with increasing maturity, and with how Google invests in the development of the framework all the time.

.Marcin: I started my adventure with Flutter before the first stable version appeared. A customer who heard about this technology came to us and was ready to take the risk of trying out the new technology. Sounds bold? The MVP app proved to be a success. I decided that this won’t be my last application written in Flutter.

.Damian: I started working with Flutter over 2 years ago. Initially, having some experience with other cross-platform technologies, I was skeptical about the new tool. I have been programming in native iOS technology for many years, which is my number one choice. Flutter quickly won my appreciation for its ease of building and the feeling that the app is almost native. I created the MVP of the first application together with Marcin – it took us only a few weeks. I’d like to add that the application still works and is available in Google and Apple stores.

“I decided to give it a try, and I have been in love ever since”

⚡️ Let’s start at the beginning… how did you end up in the Flutter Group at Droids On Roids?

.Marcin: These were the beginnings of the Flutter Group, so the year 2020. As an iOS Developer working in this technology for 5 years and associated with Droids On Roids for a long time, I immediately jumped into deep waters – working on a commercial project in Flutter. I started meeting weekly with other developers who had the opportunity to test this technology. This grassroots knowledge-sharing initiative turned into what the Flutter Group is now – a team of 8 professionals with commercial experience in Flutter.

.Dawid: I joined the Flutter group as an Android Developer who came into contact with Flutter while creating one of the applications.

“I’ve always wanted to work in a hybrid framework”

.Jakub: This year, I graduated from high school – I was looking for an opportunity to gain my first experience in real, commercial projects. I sent my resume to several different companies, but it was Droids On Roids that caught my attention and became the top choice on my list. The members of the Flutter group impressed me already during the recruitment process. The common phrase “work in a young and dynamic team” was true here.

⚡️ What do you like about Flutter and what is still causing issues?

Different perspectives and experiences; does the Flutter Group unanimously define the specific advantages and shortcomings of Flutter?

.Alex: Flutter has made the development process easy and fast from the very beginning. The developer experience and the dynamics of code development are very satisfactory. There is still little confidence in hybrid solutions in the environment, although we now see changes happening in this area.

.Arek: For me, the main advantages are the ease of writing code and cross-platform capabilities. You can see that the technology is constantly evolving, and its large number of packages helps to accelerate developers’ work.

.Jakub: The first thing that came to my mind about Flutter’s advantages was its community. The technology is quite young, but it has already gathered a huge group of supporters who are willing to help and share their knowledge.

“Flutter’s community is doing a great job”

.Marcin: I love that the entire framework is open source. We can see how individual Widgets work not only in the documentation but also literally see how they were implemented. Most of them consist of other Widgets, which allows learning how the platform works very quickly and accurately, and quickly see how to create very custom user interfaces. My biggest problem with Flutter was the lack of null-safety, but this problem has been addressed.

⚡️ What has been discussed recently at the Flutter Group meetings?

In addition to sharing knowledge externally, via blog posts or participating in meetups, the Flutter Group also organizes internal, weekly team meetings. Let’s take a look behind the scenes – what’s being discussed at the moment and what the plans for the near future are.

.Karol: We typically talk about project statuses, prepare for our own meetup, and also discuss open-source projects.

.Marcin: Definitely, we want to get involved in the open source environment and share the code with the community. We also monitor Flutter’s development towards web and desktop platforms with interest.

.Alex: We’re also considering how we should approach external code review and whether we should create a queue with designated people to check the code in other projects.

.Arek: There are also updates on current changes: we acquire new knowledge about Flutter 2.5.

.Sebastian: We are looking for a way to minimize project start-up or start-up time by generating the initial project architecture. We optimize our technology stack to start new projects more efficiently. As Karol mentioned, we are about to organize Fluttered Meetup. This meetup will target both pros and newbies interested in Flutter. Preparations are underway.

⚡️ What did you learn from working as a team for several months?

.Sebastian: Each of us has experience with the framework, and we focus on the exchange of these experiences, which gives each of us good knowledge and skills boost.

.Marcin: More and more often, we learn about Flutter’s maturity and its full commercial readiness. We’ve already released a lot of apps and haven’t encountered any major problems. As a Group, we could not be happier with such a situation, we are glad that our clients appreciate it as well.

“We are proud of the fact that we are reaching the top of the rankings related to development in Flutter – it gives us the motivation to continue”

⚡️ The Flutter Group is growing! What should potential new joiners be like?

.Alex: During recent months, we were joined by some great, open-minded developers – and that’s what we’re looking for.

.Sebastian: Regardless of the level, we are primarily looking for people who are truly interested in Flutter and, most importantly, are positive, smiling, and optimistic people. After all, it’s not work alone that people live for. Apart from at work, we meet at various events. It’s true that some of us work from outside Wrocław (mainly remotely), but we try to ensure that this doesn’t become an obstacle to team integration.

.Arek: What’s also important is commitment and willingness to exchange knowledge. We’re passionate and want to invite only such people to our team.

.Marcin: Like Alex, Sebastian and Arek said: it doesn’t matter if it’s a recent graduate with little experience or a native platform senior who wants to change their environment. Each of these developers will find challenges tailored to their level here; there is no risk of boredom. Mindset and willingness to work in this technology count most.

“We are open to anyone who shares our passion to create a product”

⚡️What should we wish you?

.Alex: Easily importable extensions from Android Studio – that’s what we need.

.Damian: That the development of this Group should keep on going as it has been so far, or even better. We’re not slowing down.

.Sebastian: Even more cool people in the Group, let us grow in strength and support the Flutter community. Interesting projects and rock’n’roll!

⚡️ Would you like to join our team?

Apply here or drop us a line at [email protected]

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