Flutter Starter

Introduction

Some changes have been made to the original repo for it to support Web, Linux, Mac and Windows. Other processes are the same.

Starter project created in Flutter using MobX and Provider.

Getting Started

The Boilerplate contains the minimal implementation required to create a new library or project. The repository code is preloaded with some basic components like basic app architecture, app theme, constants and required dependencies to create a new project. By using boilerplate code as a standard initializer, we can have the same patterns in all the projects that will inherit it. This will also help in reducing setup & development time by allowing you to use the same code pattern and avoid re-writing from scratch.

How to Use

Step 1:

Download or clone this repo by using the link below:

https://github.com/zubairehman/flutter-boilerplate-project.git

Step 2:

Go to the project root and execute the following command in the console to get the required dependencies:

flutter pub get 

Step 3:

This project uses inject library that works with code generation, execute the following command to generate files:

flutter packages pub run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs

or watch command in order to keep the source code synced automatically:

flutter packages pub run build_runner watch

Hide Generated Files

In-order to hide generated files, navigate to Android Studio -> Preferences -> Editor -> File Types and paste the below lines under ignore files and folders section:

*.inject.summary;*.inject.dart;*.g.dart;

In Visual Studio Code, navigate to Preferences -> Settings and search for Files:Exclude. Add the following patterns:

**/*.inject.summary
**/*.inject.dart
**/*.g.dart

Boilerplate Features:

• Splash

• Login

• Home

• Routing

• Theme

• Dio

• Database

• MobX (to connect the reactive data of your application with the UI)

• Provider (State Management)

• Encryption

• Validation

• Code Generation

• User Notifications

• Logging

• Dependency Injection

• Dark Theme Support (new)

• Multilingual Support (new)

• Provider example (new)

Up-Coming Features:

• Connectivity Support

• Background Fetch Support

Libraries & Tools Used

• Dio

• Database

• MobX (to connect the reactive data of your application with the UI)

• Provider (State Management)

• Encryption

• Validation

• Logging

• Notifications

• Json Serialization

• Dependency Injection

Folder Structure

Here is the core folder structure which flutter provides.

flutter-app/
|- android
|- build
|- ios
|- lib
|- test

Here is the folder structure we have been using in this project

lib/
|- constants/
|- data/
|- stores/
|- ui/
|- utils/
|- widgets/
|- main.dart
|- routes.dart

Now, let's dive into the lib folder which has the main code for the application.

1- constants - All the application level constants are defined in this directory with-in their respective files. This directory contains the constants for `theme`, `dimentions`, `api endpoints`, `preferences` and `strings`.
2- data - Contains the data layer of your project, includes directories for local, network and shared pref/cache.
3- stores - Contains store(s) for state-management of your application, to connect the reactive data of your application with the UI. 
4- ui — Contains all the UI of your project, contains a subdirectory for each screen.
5- util — Contains the utilities/common functions of your application.
6- widgets — Contains the common widgets for your applications. For example, Button, TextField etc.
7- routes.dart — This file contains all the routes for your application.
8- main.dart - This is the starting point of the application. All the application level configurations are defined in this file i.e, theme, routes, title, orientation etc.

Constants

This directory contains all the application level constants. A separate file is created for each type as shown in the example below:

constants/
|- app_theme.dart
|- dimens.dart
|- endpoints.dart
|- preferences.dart
|- strings.dart

Data

All the business logic of your application will go into this directory, it represents the data layer of your application. It is sub-divided into three directories local, network and sharedperf, each containing the domain-specific logic. Since each layer exists independently, that makes it easier to unit test. The communication between UI and the data layer is handled by using a central repository.

data/
|- local/
    |- constants/
    |- datasources/
    |- app_database.dart
   
|- network/
    |- constants/
    |- exceptions/
    |- rest_client.dart
    
|- sharedpref
    |- constants/
    |- shared_preference_helper.dart
    
|- repository.dart

Stores

The store is where all your application state lives in flutter. The Store is basically a widget that stands at the top of the widget tree and passes its data down using special methods. In case of multiple stores, a separate folder for each store is created as shown in the example below:

stores/
|- login/
    |- login_store.dart
    |- form_validator.dart

UI

This directory contains all the UI of your application. Each screen is located in a separate folder making it easy to combine groups of files related to that particular screen. All the screen-specific widgets will be placed in the widgets directory as shown in the example below:

ui/
|- login
   |- login_screen.dart
   |- widgets
      |- login_form.dart
      |- login_button.dart

Utils

Contains the common file(s) and utilities used in a project. The folder structure is as follows:

utils/
|- encryption
   |- xxtea.dart
|- date
  |- date_time.dart

Widgets

Contains the common widgets that are shared across multiple screens. For example, Button, TextField etc.

widgets/
|- app_icon_widget.dart
|- empty_app_bar.dart
|- progress_indicator.dart

Routes

This file contains all the routes for your application.

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

import 'ui/home/home.dart';
import 'ui/login/login.dart';
import 'ui/splash/splash.dart';

class Routes {
  Routes._();

  //static variables
  static const String splash = '/splash';
  static const String login = '/login';
  static const String home = '/home';

  static final routes = <String, WidgetBuilder>{
    splash: (BuildContext context) => SplashScreen(),
    login: (BuildContext context) => LoginScreen(),
    home: (BuildContext context) => HomeScreen(),
  };
}

Main

This is the starting point of the application. All the application level configurations are defined in this file i.e, theme, routes, title, orientation etc.

import 'package:boilerplate/routes.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter/services.dart';

import 'constants/app_theme.dart';
import 'constants/strings.dart';
import 'ui/splash/splash.dart';

void main() {
  SystemChrome.setPreferredOrientations([
    DeviceOrientation.portraitUp,
    DeviceOrientation.portraitDown,
    DeviceOrientation.landscapeRight,
    DeviceOrientation.landscapeLeft,
  ]).then((_) {
    runApp(MyApp());
  });
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  // This widget is the root of your application.
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
      title: Strings.appName,
      theme: themeData,
      routes: Routes.routes,
      home: SplashScreen(),
    );
  }
}

Wiki

Checkout wiki for more info

Conclusion

I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have on this approach, and if you want to lend a hand with the boilerplate then please feel free to submit an issue and/or pull request 🙂

Again to note, this is example can appear as over-architectured for what it is - but it is an example only. If you liked my work, don’t forget to ⭐ star the repo to show your support.