December 22, 2022

Dart has introduced enumerated types in its 1.8 release. Unlike Swift, the dart enum is the more basic one. Enums are similar to class and hold different constant values. This post will show how you can use them in a Flutter. What is a Dart Enum? Dart enum are predefined named constants. Code becomes cleaner and easier to understand when they are used. In enumeration, finite types are stored under a single-type definition. These are declared by using a keyword enum.  Dart Enum Constructor The important thing to note here is that you have to separate identifiers with commas. As with arrays, the Dart enum index starts at 0 for the first value. Why Use Enums in Flutter Enums are great alternatives for representing a change of states in Stateful widgets in Flutter development. Instead of declaring each state separately, you can use an enum. For instance: By using an enum, you can write this piece of code as: Use UpperCamelCase for declaring an enum state like the weather. While lowerCamelCase for the enumeration list.  Secondly, if you know the fixed values for a variable, you should use an enum. In the above example, the weather states are already known,  making an enum the best option.  Most times, developers use int variables for describing states. For instance, 0 for loading, 1 for running, and 2 for error. You can instead use an enum to write more compact code. The same can be said for booleans.   Here is how Dart enum proper use looks like: Related Post – Flutter StreamBuilder Enum in Switch Block The best use of an enum is in the Switch block. However, to run the code correctly, you must use case blocks. Here is what  the code looks like: Dart Enum with Extensions Dart provides extension methods that can be very useful. When you combine enums and extension methods, you can write cleaner and more robust code. Here is the implementation of extensions in Dart enums: Dart Enum To String Flutter can’t use the default toString() for enum types. So, here is how you convert an enum to a String: Dart Enum To Int Enums are class types for storing constant values, which can be either strings or numbers. In comparison, an Int is a numeric type predefined in Dart. Therefore, you can’t automatically convert an enum to an Int directly.  Here is how you can easily convert an enum to Int: Conclusion This blog post provided an overview of Dart enums and demonstrated their implementation in Flutter. We hope that you now have a better understanding of this concept and feel confident in utilizing it in your future Flutter projects. If you require further assistance or want to take your Flutter development to the next level, don’t hesitate to hire flutter developers who can help bring your ideas to life. Happy coding!