Dart
By Google
Dart is a client-optimized, object-oriented programming language developed by Google, best known as the language behind the Flutter cross-platform app framework.
Definition
Dart is a client-optimized, object-oriented programming language developed by Google, best known as the language behind the Flutter cross-platform app framework.
Overview
Dart was introduced by Google in 2011 and was originally positioned as a JavaScript alternative for web development. It found its breakout use case in 2017 as the language powering Flutter, Google's UI toolkit for building natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. Dart is statically typed with sound null safety, meaning the compiler can catch a wide class of null-reference bugs before the app ever runs. It supports both just-in-time (JIT) compilation for fast development cycles with hot reload, and ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation for producing fast, natively compiled release binaries — a combination well suited to mobile app development where iteration speed and runtime performance both matter. Outside of Flutter, Dart's standalone usage is comparatively small, and most developers encounter it specifically because they are building a Flutter application. Its syntax will feel familiar to developers coming from Java, JavaScript, or C++, which lowers the learning curve for teams adopting Flutter for cross-platform mobile development.
Key Features
- Statically typed with sound null safety
- Just-in-time compilation for fast development with hot reload
- Ahead-of-time compilation for optimized native release builds
- Purpose-built as the language behind the Flutter framework
- Familiar C-style syntax for developers from Java or JavaScript backgrounds
- Supports both object-oriented and functional programming styles
- Single codebase compiles to mobile, web, and desktop targets