This is a comprehensive analysis of two frameworks that cross platforms and have distinct specialties: Xamarin and. Flutter. One is known for its rich back-end support for native experiences for mobile apps; the other is prepared to give you custom widgets that can create native user interfaces in a short time. Let’s look at the key features of both frameworks, such as performance, the ability to create complex applications, the availability of developers, and a lot more. We’ve got another in-depth comparison of cross-platform frameworks, and this time, it’s Xamarin and. Flutter. As companies seek to speed up development with more sleek UIs and native interfaces, developers have additional open-source frameworks to add to the list.

We already had Xamarin with modern back-end service and top-of-the-line developer tools to develop native mobile applications that run on Android, iOS, and other platforms. We’ve also got another framework that is still in its infancy called Flutter.

Flutter comes with custom-designed widgets that create native interfaces in a matter of minutes, offer high-speed rendering, and can even match native performance.

It’s not easy for CTOs to select the best choice from a variety of alternatives that have so many useful functions. But this comparison seeks to show the capabilities of each framework in the development of mobile apps that include more native capabilities.

What is Xamarin?

It is a well-known cross-platform development framework that is used by developers to create native-like, efficient apps. It was launched in 2011 and was bought by Microsoft in the year 2016. Following the acquisition, the Xamarin SDK was released as open source and made accessible for free in Microsoft Visual Studio. The framework is being utilized by over 15,000 companies around the world, representing a variety of sectors such as transportation, energy, and healthcare.

Xamarin makes use of one programming language, which is C#, and the .NET framework to build mobile applications for a variety of platforms and demands. It also makes use of XAML which is an XML markup and data binding application language. Xamarin is an abstraction layer that facilitates the exchange of shared code between platforms. You can write your own applications and then build them into native application packages (.apk to Android or .ipa to iOS).

Here are some amazing statistics on the market usage of Xamarin:

Use cases of Xamarin

• Efficient cross-platform apps
• Applications that perform natively
• Apps that have access to native APIs
• Apps that use components that can be reused
• An app that utilizes hardware acceleration

What is Flutter?

Flutter, an open-source platform that operates using a language known as Dart developed by Google. It’s commonly referred to as an improved UI toolkit, which is designed to create cross-platform apps using a single source code base. It lets developers create dynamic and flexible UIs that perform natively. It is also developed and supported by a group of Google developers as well as the whole Flutter community.

Here are some cool stats for the market usage of Flutter

• Flutter is the sixth most popular cross-platform framework in 2022 and has 12.64 percent.
• Flutter is adored by 68.03 percent of developers across the globe.
• There are over 26,000 applications created using Flutter, and over 13 billion downloads in the world.

Xamarin vs Flutter— Performance Comparison

Tests run by a tech consulting agency found a stark difference in performance between two of the most popular Xamarin environments -the Xamarin.Forms as well as Xamarin Native.

Xamarin.Forms

Although Xamarin.Forms offers 90% reusability of code, the performance of the application often is not as great as native apps. For common functions of mobile applications such as booting, processing API requests, serialization/deserialization, and image loading/saving, Xamarin.Forms’ apps showed weaker metrics compared to native apps. But, many developers and organizations are willing to sacrifice some performance to maximize the operational viability and cost-effectiveness they gain in the end.

Xamarin Native

The apps developed in this framework for Android proved to be equivalent to native ones in regards to performance. Incredibly, there were few instances such as SQL BulkInsert operation, where Xamarin.Android appeared to perform more efficiently than native programs. Therefore, it’s safe to affirm that Xamarin.Android is an excellent alternative to native applications.

Xamarin.iOS apps, however did not perform as well as the performance of native iOS applications, like Xamarin.Android however, this is an everyday occurrence in cross-platform application development. There are many elements that affect the performance of apps, including performance on the backend as well as Xamarin Native allows you to create applications that aren’t able to be distinguished from natively developed apps.

How does Flutter stand out in terms of performance?

Flutter is comparable to its performance than its rivals. It doesn’t require a bridge to connect with native modules because of the standard availability of native components. The test for performance indicated that the “hello world” app always was running in sixty FPS in addition to the duration it takes to render each frame will not exceed 16 milliseconds. The amount of frames deleted was less. Flutter makes use of Skia, a Skia graphics library that lets for the UI to be refreshed every time there is a change in the view of the application. This is the reason why Flutter is able to run efficiently at 60 FPS.

What kind of architecture does Xamarin support?

The Xamarin framework allows for a variety of architectural designs and isn’t tied to a specific design as is the case with numerous frameworks. There are however certain patterns that are proven to be more beneficial when compared to the others. Model-View-Presenter (MVP) is the preferred way to go when creating native mobile apps using Xamarin. Similarly, you’d want to build Xamarin.Forms apps on the Model-View-View-Model (MVVM) pattern to make the most out of Xamarin’s offerings. Other patterns that are useful to work with the Xamarin ecosystem include Command, Publish/Subscribe and Singleton.

What kind of architecture does Flutter support?

The Flutter architecture is multi-layered. The structure of a simple application built with this framework begins with the top-level root function or, more precisely, specific widgets for platforms. Then, there are the basic widgets that communicate with the platform and render layers. In addition to the layer for rendering, there are the animation gestures that transmit API commands to the base layer of the application. Also known as Scaffold which is operated by an engine written in C/C++ and an embedded deer specific to the platform. If you are looking to segregate your presentation and the business logic, you should look into using Flutter BLoC. This makes it much easier for experienced and junior developers of Flutter to design complex applications using small and easy components.

Is Xamarin suitable for building complex apps?

Xamarin is natively built which makes it among the top cross-platform development tools to build efficient apps that appear and feel as native applications. The sound functionality is the outcome of the combination C# and native libraries that are under the .NET framework. In addition, Xamarin utilizes the capabilities of native platforms by using APIs that allow developers to add complicated functions to applications. The fact that you are able to create UIs that are specific to platforms is a plus for creating complex applications using the framework. Xamarin is also able to support apps for wearable devices like smartwatches.

Is Flutter suitable for building complex apps?

As of the writing time of this piece, Flutter doesn’t have enough power for more complicated projects. However, startups could think of Flutter as a viable option to build a Minimal Valuable Product (MVP). It is a great option for creating more rapid prototypes if you are most likely to play with the idea and reduce costs to test your ideas. The plan is to create two distinct versions (iOS as well as Android) using Flutter and evaluate the results on the marketplace. Then, you can spend more money and expand your ideas from simple to more complicated ones.

How easier is it to test a Xamarin app?

With Xamarin you can quickly test the various features of the app on hundreds of devices to eliminate bugs prior to the app’s release and cut down on the development time. It also allows the automated and stern UI testing that eliminates every flaw in the application by reproducing user behavior. From swipes, taps and rotations or the waiting time until UI components are loaded, all of it is possible when testing using Xamarin. It’s not just convenient testing with Xamarin, it’s easy as you receive results from extensive tests within a few minutes prior to application deployment.

How easier is it to test a Flutter app?

Flutter provides a wide range of support to automate testing since it works using dart. It not only offers an array of tests to test applications at the unit widget, unit, or integration level, but it also has a wealth of comprehensive documentation pertaining to the application. Additionally, Flutter provides robust documentation for the development and release of Android and iOS apps to both the Play Store as well as the App store, respectively. Additionally the deployment procedure is documented in a formal manner as well.

How big is the community around Xamarin?

According to Statista, 11% of developers worldwide use Xamarin for cross-platform app development. The community consists of close to 1.4 million developers spread across 120 countries. These are some healthy numbers considering the stiff competition in the cross-development framework ecosystem. This open-source framework has more than 60,000 contributors that hail from 37,000 different companies. You can easily get in touch with active Xamarin community members on platforms like Xamarin Blog, Stack Overflow, Xamarin Q&A, Reddit, etc.

How big is the community around Flutter?

Since its introduction at the end of 2017, it has become apparent that the Flutter user community has gained a greater popularity over React Native. However, the number of professional contributors is only 662+ which is considerably less than React Native. However, the number of live projects that are forked by the community is approximately 13.7k which means that anyone can get help with development. There are several popular platforms to connect with the world-wide Flutter community include:

• Slack
• Discord
• Gitter
• Reddit
• Flutterday
• Stack Overflow

Does Xamarin support modularity?

Yes, in a word. It is possible to utilize Prism as a powerful tool for introducing modularity to your Xamarin application. There are also several libraries like ReactorUI which allow you to follow the principle of a component-based approach. But, modularity isn’t an inherent feature of Xamarin as it is with other frameworks for cross-platform development. With the use of specific tools and libraries that simplify complicated projects and reap the benefits of modularity.

Does Flutter support modularity?

Flutter gives you better access to teams and the ability to divide projects into multiple modules using the pub packages system. Your team can quickly create various modules using the plug-in capability and easily edit or modify a codebase. In the Droidcon NYC conference 2019, BMW architects discussed the ways they allowed teams with different skills to seamlessly work using Flutter.

Xamarin’s ability to give the best user experience

In Xamarin it is possible to create specific UIs for each platform and use all native APIs, like Bluetooth SDKs, Xamarin, etc. for bringing apps to life. Because Xamarin utilizes the native UI controls to incorporate hardware acceleration to the screen and make apps perform better than those that rely on the code analysis in running time. Developers are also able to add beautiful themes, diagrams , UI control elements, as well as images from the Xamarin component store. Additionally is that you can leverage the material design tools to create customized applications.

Flutter’s ability to give the best user experience

Flutter gives users a full user experience, with simple elements, tools as well as custom-designed widgets. The garbage collection feature that is generational is also part of Dart which assists in the creation of UI frames for objects that could be temporary. It is a feature that Dart assigns objects to a single pointer bump which helps to eliminate UI garbage, clutter, and shutter delays during the development process.