Flutter on Windows: A Quick Setup Tutorial for Beginners

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Flutter, Google's open-source UI software development toolkit, is here to make your journey into cross-platform app development a breeze.

In this quick setup tutorial, we'll walk you through the process of installing Flutter on your Windows machine, providing beginners with a straightforward path to begin their app development journey.

Step 1: Download and Extract Flutter

Open your web browser and navigate to flutter.dev. Click on the "Windows" tab to download the stable Flutter SDK ZIP file.

Get the stable Flutter SDK ZIP file.

Once the download is complete, locate the ZIP file, and extract it to a directory of your choice on your Windows.

You can extract it to the root of your C: drive or any other location that suits you.

Step 2: Adding Flutter to Windows System PATH

To use Flutter from any command prompt, you need to add the Flutter executable to your system's PATH environment variable. Here's how to do it:

1. Right-click on the Start button and select "System."
2. Click on "Advanced system settings" on the left.
3. In the System Properties window, click the "Environment Variables" button.
4. Under "System variables," scroll down and find "Path." Click "Edit."
5. Click "New" and add the path to the "bin" directory of your Flutter installation. It should look something like this: "C:\flutter\bin". Click "OK" to save.

Open a Command Prompt or PowerShell window and run command "flutter --version" to check if your flutter is running:

Step 3: Install Flutter Dependencies

Before you can start creating Flutter apps, you need to install some additional dependencies and set up your development environment.

Open a Command Prompt or PowerShell window and run the following command "flutter doctor".

The Flutter Doctor will check your system and provide a list of any missing components you need to install or configure.

Follow the instructions provided to address any issues.

Step 4: Setting Up an Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

While you can develop Flutter apps using a basic text editor, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) like Visual Studio Code (VS Code) can greatly enhance your development experience. Here's how to set it up:

1. Download and install Visual Studio Code.
2. Open VS Code and install the "Flutter" and "Dart" extensions. These extensions provide code highlighting, debugging support, and various Flutter-specific features.

Step 5: Create Your First Flutter App

Now that your environment is set up, let's create your very first Flutter app:

1. Open your command prompt or terminal.
2. Navigate to your preferred development directory using the "cd" command, for example i create directory "FLUTTER" in drive E.
3. Create a new Flutter app using the "flutter create firstapp" command in directory "E:\FLUTTER".
4. Replace "firstapp" with your desired app name.

Step 6: Run Your Flutter App

To run your app on an emulator or physical device:

1. Navigate to your app's directory "cd firstapp":
2. Connect a physical device or start an emulator.
3. Use the ""flutter run" command to build and run your app:

Congratulations! You've successfully installed Flutter on your Windows machine and created your very first Flutter app.

You're now ready to explore Flutter's rich ecosystem and start building your own cross-platform mobile applications.

Happy coding, and welcome to the exciting world of Flutter app development!