I've been asked to develop a mobile app at work. I've never done mobile dev and this will be by some margin the most substantial thing I've written.
I'm currently leaning towards React Native (Expo) but I'm hearing many good things about Flutter. I'm a bit wary that Flutter is AFAICT nowhere in the UK in terms of job postings. If this project goes well I reckon I'd stand a good chance of doubling or tripling my salary even by taking a junior role. I know if I can pick up one I could certainly pick up the other, but I think having the professional experience is highly valued. Does anyone with their ear to the ground have any input as I hadn't even heard of Flutter before I started researching. Maybe Flutter will be more popular 1-2 years down the line, but maybe it's hard to predict.
On a related note: in any IT job, how common is it for you to spend an entire day or days researching new tech for a new product or project? I could perhaps be recording my research better but it's easy to feel like nothing has been done.
>>27163 >in any IT job, how common is it for you to spend an entire day or days researching new tech for a new product or project
hahahahahaha. Oh lad. That's a key part of the job!
Personally I would go React if you're thinking of future job prospects, but to tell the truth, the market for JS frameworks has exploded in the last few years as front-end development has become a respectable engineering art; they are two a penny now and the source of much geek arguments.
A key concept in programming is that you aren't going to support a lot of the code you write - some other chump will have to work with it in a couple of years time as you move onto something else. You'll appreciate this when you get to do it that way round, it is RARE in IT to be at the start of the project and choosing all the tools/frameworks for a project. Don't go for the latest, greatest and shiny tool; all the other geeks will like you more.
>>27164 >the market for JS frameworks has exploded in the last few years as front-end development has become a respectable engineering art; they are two a penny now and the source of much geek arguments.
One of the reasons I've tried to stay focused on back-end development is that it takes more than just the passing of a weekend to render my knowledge out of date.
Rule of thumb: go with whatever's newer / flashier. They'll just get you to refactor the code for the next framework of the week a few versions down the line anyway.
Depending on the use-case, it might make more sense to develop a Progressive Web App rather than a native app. With modern web APIs, you can provide an icon on the home screen, offline functionality and push notifications with a web app. You can fully leverage your existing web development skills and tooling, you don't really have to worry about cross-platform issues and you can deliver a more streamlined onboarding process.