Working with Async/Await and Future API in Flutter

Working with Future API and Async Await in Flutter

Asynchronous programming is an important part of modern mobile development, and Flutter provides a number of tools to make it easier. In this article, we’ll look at how to use the Future API and async/await keywords to handle asynchronous operations in Flutter.

What is Asynchronous Programming?

Async programming is a way of writing code that can perform tasks without blocking the main thread. It allows for multiple tasks to be executed simultaneously so that the user doesn’t have to wait for long-running operations to complete. Async programming can be used to make network requests, access databases, and perform background processing.

The Future API

The Future API is a set of methods and classes that allow you to manage asynchronous operations in Flutter. It provides a way to simplify the asynchronous programming process by handling the creation of Futures and their completion notifications.

A Future is an object that represents a value that will be available at some point in the future. The Future API provides the ability to create, manipulate, and monitor Futures from within your code. You can use Futures to return results once an asynchronous task has completed, or to notify you when a certain condition has been met.

Using async/await

Async/await is the recommended way to write async code in Flutter. It provides a way to pause execution while waiting for an asynchronous operation to complete, and to resume execution once the result of the operation is available. Unlike the Future API, async/await is much simpler to read and write.

To use async/await, all you need to do is mark a function as async and then use the await keyword inside of it. When the await keyword is used, execution of the current function will pause until an asynchronous operation completes. Once the operation completes, the function will continue execution.

Conclusion

In Flutter, using the Future API and async/await keywords makes it easier to manage asynchronous operations. The Future API provides a way to create, manipulate, and monitor Futures, while async/await provides a more readable way to pause execution until an asynchronous operation completes. With these two tools, you can easily write code that takes advantage of the power of asynchronous programming in Flutter.