How to Build a Cloud-Based App with Dart

Are you looking to build a cloud-based app with Dart? If so, you've come to the right place. Dart is a versatile programming language that can help you create powerful and scalable web applications. And with cloud computing, you can harness the power of the cloud to make your app more efficient and accessible.

In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know to build your own cloud-based app with Dart. We'll cover the basics of cloud computing, how to set up Google Cloud Platform to run Dart apps, and how to build a sample app using Dart and Google Cloud Firestore.

So, let's get started!

What is cloud computing?

First, let's define what we mean by cloud computing. In simple terms, cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.

With cloud computing, you can access your data and applications from anywhere, and you can scale your resources up or down as needed. This makes cloud-based apps more flexible, efficient, and cost-effective.

Setting up Google Cloud Platform

Now that we know the basics of cloud computing, let's dive into how to set up Google Cloud Platform to run Dart apps.

Creating a new project

To get started, navigate to the Google Cloud Console and create a new project. Give your project a meaningful name and select your preferred billing account.

Enabling necessary APIs

Once you've created a new project, you'll need to enable certain APIs to use Google Cloud Platform with Dart. In the Cloud Console, navigate to the "APIs & Services" section and enable the following APIs:

• Cloud Firestore API
• Cloud Functions API
• Cloud Storage API
• Firebase Authentication API

Installing the Dart SDK

Next, you'll need to install the Dart SDK on your local machine. You can download the SDK for your operating system from the Dart website.

Configuring Firebase

To use Firebase with Dart, you'll need to create a new Firebase project and configure it for your app. Follow these steps to set up Firebase:

1. In the Firebase console, create a new project and give it a name.
2. Follow the prompts to enable Google Analytics for your project.
3. Once your project is created, go to the "Settings" page and click on the "Project settings" tab.
4. Under the "Your apps" section, click on the "Add app" button and select "Web".
5. Give your app a nickname and click on the "Register app" button.
6. Copy the Firebase configuration data (apiKey, authDomain, projectId, storageBucket, messagingSenderId, and measurementId) for your app and paste it into the "web/index.html" file of your Dart app.

Creating a Dart app

Now that you have everything set up, it's time to create your first Dart app. Here's how to do it:

1. Open a terminal window and navigate to the directory where you want to create your app.
2. Run the command dart create myapp to create a new Dart app called "myapp".
3. Navigate to the "myapp" directory and run the command pub get to fetch the dependencies for the app.
4. Open the "pubspec.yaml" file and add the following dependencies:

dependencies:
  firebase: ^8.3.1
  cloud_firestore: ^1.0.6
  firebase_storage: ^8.0.2

5. Run the command pub get again to fetch the new dependencies.
6. Inside the "myapp/lib" directory, create a new Dart file called "main.dart".
7. Add the following code to the "main.dart" file:

import 'package:firebase/firebase.dart';
import 'package:cloud_firestore/cloud_firestore.dart';
import 'package:firebase_storage/firebase_storage.dart';

void main() {
  initializeApp(
      apiKey: "your_api_key",
      authDomain: "your_auth_domain",
      projectId: "your_project_id",
      storageBucket: "your_storage_bucket",
      messagingSenderId: "your_messaging_sender_id",
      measurementId: "your_measurement_id");
}

8. Replace the placeholder values in the initializeApp function with the configuration data for your Firebase app.

Congratulations! You've created your first Dart app with Firebase.

Building a sample app

To put your new knowledge into practice, let's build a simple app that uses Google Cloud Firestore to store and retrieve data. Our app will allow users to create new notes and view a list of all notes.

Here's how to build the app:

1. Modify the main() function to include the following code, which retrieves data from the Firestore database:

void main() async {
  initializeApp(
    apiKey: "your_api_key",
    authDomain: "your_auth_domain",
    projectId: "your_project_id",
    storageBucket: "your_storage_bucket",
    messagingSenderId: "your_messaging_sender_id",
    measurementId: "your_measurement_id"
  );
  Firestore firestore = firestore();
  firestore.settings(Settings(host: "localhost", sslEnabled: false));
  var snapshot = await firestore.collection("notes").get();
  snapshot.docs.forEach((doc) {
    print(doc.data());
  });
}

2. Run the app with the command dart run.
3. You should see a list of notes printed in the terminal.

Now, let's create a new note and save it to Firestore:

void main() async {
  initializeApp(
    apiKey: "your_api_key",
    authDomain: "your_auth_domain",
    projectId: "your_project_id",
    storageBucket: "your_storage_bucket",
    messagingSenderId: "your_messaging_sender_id",
    measurementId: "your_measurement_id"
  );
  Firestore firestore = firestore();
  firestore.settings(Settings(host: "localhost", sslEnabled: false));
  var note = {"title": "My first note", "content": "This is my first note."};
  await firestore.collection("notes").add(note);
}

4. Run the app with the command dart run.
5. You should see a new note added to the Firestore database.

Congratulations! You've successfully built a cloud-based app with Dart.

Conclusion

In this article, we covered everything you need to know to build a cloud-based app with Dart. We learned about the basics of cloud computing, how to set up Google Cloud Platform to run Dart apps, and how to build a sample app using Dart and Google Cloud Firestore.

Dart is a powerful and flexible programming language that can help you create robust and scalable web applications. And with cloud computing, you can harness the power of the cloud to make your app more efficient and accessible.

So, if you're ready to take your app development to the next level, give Dart and cloud computing a try. Who knows, you might just create the next big thing.

Additional Resources