Problem Statement
Why does Flutter use Dart as its programming language?
Explanation
Dart was chosen for Flutter because it supports both Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation for fast startup and smooth performance in production, and Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation enabling hot reload during development for instant code changes. This dual compilation capability is unique and crucial for Flutter's developer experience.
Dart is optimized for building user interfaces with features like async/await for handling asynchronous operations smoothly, a sound type system for catching errors early, and familiar object-oriented syntax that's easy to learn. The language was designed with UI frameworks in mind, making it ideal for Flutter's reactive programming model.
Dart's memory management with generational garbage collection is optimized for creating and destroying short-lived objects like widgets, which is exactly what Flutter does constantly when rebuilding UI. This makes Dart's performance characteristics perfectly suited for Flutter's architecture.
