# Research: Cross Platform Frameworks

| | Flutter | React Native |
| -------- | -------- | -------- |
| Developer Experience | Components already provided by google out of the box. | Bare minimals are provided dependencies on 3rd party libs and open source community is extensive. |
| Language | Dart is similar to C#, TypeScript, and Java | Javascript, support for typescript |
| Project Structure | Much simpler | More complex |
| Tooling | Much Simpler | Project is javascript, lot of options to choose from (CLIs), can lead to over reliance on 3rd parties. |
| Code | Nesting, modules can be extracted, good tooling for refactoring | JSX, Looks like HTML, plain Javascript functions |
| Compiler | Run-time error safety and null safety |*NA*|
| Tracking | Perfect for continious tracking apps, [source](https://youtu.be/3XX7ItWhYm4?t=202) |Works well with one-time location|
| Shipping | Overhead: Learn Dart > Flutter **(Faster)** |Overhead: Learn React > React Native|
| Performance | Faster due to lack of bridges, difference should not be noticible for end user |Slower|
| CI/CD | Out of the box through the CLI |Needs 3rd party plugins|
|Popularity (as of 2021 Developer Survey), [source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XX7ItWhYm4)|Preferred by 42% of developers|38% of developers|

### Community Comparison (As of March 2021)
*Source: [This DEV article](https://dev.to/mjablecnik/how-large-is-flutter-vs-react-native-community-in-2021-2df5)*

| | Flutter | React Native | Difference | Winner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| First stable release | 12.4. 2018 | 27.3. 2015 | 3 years | RN |
| Reddit followers | 63.8K | 70.5K | 6.7K | RN |
| StackOverflow all questions | 78 544 | 95 080 | 16 536 | RN |
| StackOverflow questions without answer | 19 383 | 25 101 | 5 718 | Flutter |
| Github stars | 114K | 93.7K | 20.3K | Flutter |
| Github commits | 22 905 | 22 050 | 855 | Flutter |
| Dev.to articles | 1220 | 1723 | 503 | RN |
| Gitter active users | 12 662 | 1 958 | 10 704 | Flutter |
| Facebook followers | 129.7K | 111K | 18.7K | Flutter |
| Twitter followers | 131K | 104.1K | 26.9K | Flutter |
| Twitter tweets | 1344 | 551 | 793 | Flutter |
| LinkedIn group followers | 13.6K | 23.1K | 9.5K | RN |
| Instagram followers | 20.8K | 3369 | 20.4K | Flutter |

### [Jelvix](https://youtu.be/3XX7ItWhYm4?t=306) Opinion on when to choose which

Use **React Native** if:
- App is expected to be large and deeply rooted
- Planning to reuse code for web
- App requires multiple interactions with OS
- App requires **rare** native libraries

.. and use **Flutter** if:
- Need to launch MVP quickly
- App is UI-Centered, UI can be united for both platforms
- App requires custom communication through bluetooth