Problem Statement
What is Riverpod and how does it differ from Provider?
Explanation
Riverpod is a complete rewrite of Provider by the same author, fixing Provider's limitations while maintaining similar concepts. Unlike Provider which relies on BuildContext and InheritedWidget, Riverpod works independently of the widget tree, eliminating ProviderNotFoundException errors and allowing provider access anywhere including outside widgets. This makes testing easier and code more flexible.
Riverpod provides compile-time safety - errors are caught during compilation rather than runtime. It supports multiple providers of the same type without conflicts, automatic disposal, better performance through improved caching, and combines multiple providers easily. Provider syntax like ref.watch, ref.read, and ref.listen is more explicit than Provider's context extensions.
Riverpod uses ConsumerWidget instead of Widget and Consumer instead of Provider's Consumer. It offers various provider types: StateProvider for simple mutable state, FutureProvider for async data, StreamProvider for streams, and StateNotifierProvider for complex state. While Riverpod has a steeper learning curve than Provider, its benefits make it suitable for medium to large applications requiring robust state management.