Getting Started with Flutter

Create a project with flutter create. Project names follow Dart package naming: lowercase letters and underscores.

flutter create hello_app
cd hello_app

# List connected devices, emulators and browsers
flutter devices

# Run on the default device
flutter run

# Pick a specific device
flutter run -d chrome
flutter run -d windows

Use --org com.example to set the prefix of the Android package name and iOS bundle identifier, and --platforms=android,ios to generate only the platforms you need.

The generated project is a counter app. Its entry point is the main function in lib/main.dart, and the widget passed to runApp becomes the whole screen. A minimal version looks like this:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(const MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  const MyApp({super.key});

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return const MaterialApp(
      home: Scaffold(
        body: Center(child: Text('Hello, Flutter!')),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Hot reload

While flutter run is active, saving a file in your editor triggers hot reload. In a terminal session, use these keys:

Hot reload works in debug mode and is the heart of the Flutter workflow: change a widget, see the result in about a second. Changes to main or to initial state values need a hot restart.

Editor setup

• VS Code: install the Flutter extension (it installs the Dart extension too), pick a device in the status bar, and press F5 to debug.
• Android Studio or IntelliJ IDEA: install the Flutter plugin from the plugin settings. Managing Android emulators is convenient here.
• Both editors can open DevTools for inspecting the widget tree and profiling performance.

Summary

• The Flutter SDK includes the Dart SDK; install it through the VS Code extension or from the SDK archive.
• Run flutter doctor to check the tooling for each target platform.
• Create a project with flutter create and run it with flutter run.
• Hot reload applies code changes instantly while keeping app state.