Picking up on Flutter where I left off a few months ago. I noticed that upgrading to the latest version of Flutter (3.10.1 at this point) seemed break the starter projects from the ftla-materials github repository. I even made sure to pull a fresh copy of the repository but still ran into build errors related to google fonts.
I found at least in 4th and 5th chapter starter projects required editing the pubspec.yaml to upgrade the google_fonts package to ^4.0.5 then doing a pub upgrade.
That at least allowed the projects to built and deploy to my Android phone again.
Seems were are still in the move fast and break things with Flutter?
Flutter and Dart are developing rapidly, and changes between major versions can sometimes cause issues like the one you’re experiencing.
I have removed a paragraph and edited my post, as the Flutter version command is deprecated and already removed from Flutter. For the solution, refer to @geoffdcw’s answer below
On the topic of version numbers, Dart’s jump from 2.x.x to 3.x.x is a major change. The version number is in the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format. Major changes can include backwards-incompatible changes, sometimes breaking existing projects. Minor changes usually add functionality in a backwards-compatible manner, and patches are typically for backwards-compatible bug fixes.
The pace of updates can be hard to keep up with, and sometimes, they cause a few headaches! But remember, each new version also brings improvements and fresh features, so there’s a bright side to it too.
was not valid for my installation of flutter (perhaps it is --version ? maybe the markdown editor ate the double hyphens? Using backticks seems to help). I did discover I could do instead:
flutter downgrade
followed by:
flutter doctor
This brought me back to my previous version prior to my upgrade this morning. Now the flta projects built again, unmodified. What started me on the upgrade path, though, were warnings by flutter doctor to accept the android licenses, which then resulted in a crash:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: com/android/prefs/AndroidLocationsProvider has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (class file version 55.0), this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0
As well, flutter doctor warning that Android Studio could not find the bundled Java version.
Doing the flutter upgrade fixed all that, but then broke the starter apps.
In exploring Flutter for our production work (enterprise apps), having a stable toolchain that doesn’t break our build process is important, especially if I’m going to convince my colleagues to try Flutter. Obviously not your team’s fault, and I’m sure you share the same concern for a different reason: the book source code goes stale quickly at the pace that Flutter evolves. Didn’t we go through something similar last year with Flutter 2…
That said, as you pointed out, with the interruptions of upgrades come improvements (we hope!).
Thank you @geoffdcw, for highlighting the issue with my answer. I have not downgraded Flutter or Dart for a while. The Flutter version command is deprecated and has already been removed from Flutter. I have edited my previous reply to reflect this.
Keep reporting the bugs . The books and supporting GitHut repositories are updated when necessary, especially in response to feedback from the community.
When Flutter 3.0.0 was released in May last year, it caused a few issues trying to follow the book’s examples, Kodeco was quick to release updates, and I am sure this will also be the case this time.
Great to hear, and appreciate the updates! I can’t quite imagine the work involved keeping a book like this current with such a moving target. Just glad to be back building again.
is it possible to hope that in the fourth version of the book we will really study Flutter and not packages from pub such as provider/riverpod or getx let’s study what the sdk already has and not the packages…
is it possible to hope that in the fourth version of the book we will really study Flutter and not packages from pub such as provider/riverpod or getx let’s study what the sdk already has and not the packages…
Developing in Flutter is often about leveraging resources in the Flutter dev world, which include popular and recommended packages. Google even recommends packages such as Provider/Riverpod and Go_Router. The latter is now managed by the Google team.
Is there something specific subjects you feel are missing?
of course, when you are already an established developer, it is better to take a proven package, but if you are at the beginning of studying the framework, then you need to learn what it provides and not wrappers over its already existing functionality
ps: and google does not recommend using helper methods and use widgets
the main question is, are we here to study Flutter or just to show how to use it to make an application?
if the answer is studying Flutter then let’s not waste time studying wrappers
well, if the answer is the second, then let’s drag getx and reduce the amount of material in two, what will such a developer know about Flutter? nothing…
Thank you for addressing the issue.
I meant the pinned thread in the Flutter Apprentice category, where I recently reported multiple possible bugs/errata (I might still contribute in the near future as I am still going through the book): https://forums.kodeco.com/t/errata-for-flutter-apprentice-3rd-edition/178204
. The books and supporting GitHut repositories are updated when necessary, especially in response to feedback from the community.