Mastering Dart

Representation of complex things as a set of parts is called decomposition. By analogy, the real-world complex software may be broken into functional parts called modules. Each module can be created, changed, tested, used, and replaced separately.

Let's take a look at the benefits of modularity. For the sake of simplicity, we divide them into development and postproduction phases. Each of these phases has its own specific tasks to be solved in the scope of that phase.

The development phase has the following benefits:

The postproduction phase has the following benefits:

One significant disadvantage of modularity is that it increases complexity when managing many modules, especially when each one is individually versioned, updated, and has dependencies on the other modules.

The Dart language was designed by keeping the modules in mind. Modularity in Dart is realized through packages, libraries, and classes.

A library exposes functionality as a set of interfaces and hides the implementation from the rest of the world. As a concept, it's very similar to the separation of concern between objects in object-oriented programming (OOP). Separating an application into libraries helps minimize tight coupling and makes it easier to maintain the code. A library can be implemented as a simple function, a single class, several classes, or a collection of parts representing the entire API of a library. The Dart application is a library as well.

A package is simply a directory that contains a pubspec.yaml file and may include any number of libraries and resources. The pubspec.yaml file contains significant information about the package, its authors, and its dependencies on other packages. Here is a sample pubspec.yaml file:

name: animation_library
version: 0.1.0
author: Sergey Akopkokhyants
description: Animation library for Web application
dependencies:
  browser: any

The real pubspec.yaml file can have more fields as specified at https://www.dartlang.org/tools/pub/pubspec.html.Before a package can be used, it must be published to a package management system, which is available as an online resource called pub at https://pub.dartlang.org/. To publish and retrieve packages from pub, we use a utility application of the same name. The pub utility uses information about dependencies from the pubspec.yaml file to retrieve all the necessary packages from the following locations:

Dart Editor manages dependencies automatically for you. You can publish your packages right in Dart Editor.

A namespace is a container for all the members of a library. A namespace is defined by the library name. A library that is implicitly named has an empty namespace. This results in a conflict when trying to import libraries with the same namespaces. Import library namespace conflicts can be easily avoided with a prefix clause (as) and a name prefix.

The following is an implicitly named library in which all the resources from dart:html are made available within the scope of our library with the prefix dom:

/**
 * Implicitly named library.
 * The dart:core library is automatically imported.
 */
import 'dart:html' as dom;

/**
 * Get [Element] by [id].
 */
dom.Element getById(String id) => dom.querySelector('#$id');

The library namespace make sense only in the Dart environment.

Dart implements encapsulation through privacy. Each member or identifier of a library has one of the two levels of access: private or public. Private members are visible only inside the library in which they are declared. Conversely, members with a public access are visible everywhere. The difference between them is the underscore prefix (_), as shown in the following code:

// Animation library.
library animation;

// Class publicly available everywhere.
class Animation {
  // ...
}

// Class visible only inside library.
class _AnimationLibrary {
  // ...
}

// Variable publicly available everywhere.
var animationSpeed;

The preceding code shows an animation library with two classes and one variable. The Animation class and the animationSpeed variable are public, and therefore visible outside the library. The _AnimationLibrary class is private and it can be used only in the library.

Public access can be managed with the show and hide extensions of the import statement. Use the following show extension with a specific class, which will then be available inside the library in which it is imported:

import 'animation.dart' as animation show Animation;

// Main entry into Dart Web application.
main() {
  // Animate
  new animation.Animation();
}

The animation prefix in the import statement defines the namespace to import the animation.dart library. All members of the animation.dart library are available in the global namespace via this prefix. We are referring to an Animation class with the animation prefix, as shown here:

Use the hide extension with a specific class, which will then be unavailable inside the library in which it is imported; everything else from the library will be available, as shown in the following code:

import 'animation.dart' as animation hide Animation;

// Main entry into Dart Web application.
main() {
  // Animate
  var speed = animation.animationSpeed;
}

Now we hide the Animation class, but all the other public members in the namespace animation are still available, as seen in the following screenshot:

As you can see, the members of the imported library become invisible. This happens because the library exports members from the public namespace. It can be possible to re-export the imported library with the export statement if this necessary export statement can be managed with show and hide as it was for the import statement, as shown in the following code:

library animation.css;

import 'animation.dart' as animation;
export 'animation.dart' show Animation;

class CssAnimation extends animation.Animation {
  // ...
}

The preceding code shows the animation.css library. We export the Animation class as part of the library namespace. Let's take a look at how we can use them:

There are the exported Animation and original CssAnimation classes available for use in our main code. Without the export, the Animation class would be inaccessible in the main code.

Naming functions by variable means that we can create a reference to a function and assign it to a variable, as shown in the following code:

library function_var;

// Returns sum of [a] and [b]
add(a, b) {
  return a + b;
}

// Operation
var operation;

void main() {
  // Assign reference to function [add]
  operation = add;
  // Execute operation
  var result = operation(2, 1);
  print("Result is ${result}");}");
}

Here is the result of the preceding code:

Result is 3

We have the add function and the operation variable. We assign the reference of the add function to a variable and call the variable as a function later.

Passing functions as arguments to other functions can be very useful in cases when we need to implement the strategy design pattern to enable the program code to be selected and executed at runtime, as shown in the following code:

library function_param;

// Returns sum of [a] and [b]
add(a, b) {
  return a + b;
}

// Operation executor
executor(operation, x, y) {
  return operation(x, y);
}

void main() {
  // Execute operation
  var result = executor(add, 2, 1);
  print("Result is ${result}");
}

Here is the result of the preceding code:

Result is 3

The global executor function from the preceding example can call any function that accepts two arguments. You can see the implementation of the strategy design pattern in the form of anonymous functions passed as parameters of methods in collections.

Sometimes, a function can be returned as a result of another function, as shown in the following code:

library function_return;

// Returns sum of [a] and [b]
add(a, b) => a + b;

// Returns difference between [a] and [b]
sub(a, b) => a - b;

// Choose the function depends on [type]
chooser(bool operation) =>operation ? add : sub;

void main() {
  // Choose function depends on operation type
  var operation = chooser(true);
  // Execute it
  var result = operation(2, 1);
  // Result
  print("Result is ${result}");
}

Here is the result of the preceding code:

Result is 3

This option can be very useful in implementing closures.

We can store a function in data structures in any collection, as shown in the following code:

library function_store;

// Returns sum of [a] and [b]
add(a, b) => a + b;

// Returns difference between [a] and [b]
sub(a, b) => a - b;

// Choose the function depends on [type]
var operations = [add, sub];

void main() {
  // Choose function from list
  var operation = operations[0];
  // Execute it
  var result = operation(2, 1);
  // Result
  print("Result is ${result}");
}

Here is the result of the preceding code:

Result is 3

We have two functions and the array operations in our example that stores references to them.

A function can be created in the global scope or within the scope of another function. A function that can be referenced with an access to the variables in its lexical scope is called a closure, as shown in the following code:

library function_closure;

// Function returns closure function.
calculate(base) {
  // Counter store
  var count = 1;
  // Inner function - closure
  return () => print("Value is ${base + count++}");
}

void main() {
  // The outer function returns inner
  var f = calculate(2);
  // Now we call closure
  f();
  f();
}

Here is the result of the preceding code:

Value is 3
Value is 4

We have the calculate function, which contains the count variable and returns a an inner function. The inner function has an access to the count variable because both are defined in the same scope. The count variable exists only within the scope of calculate and would normally disappear when the function exits. This does not happen in this case because the inner function returned by calculate holds a reference to count. The variable has been closed covered, meaning it's within a closure.

Finally, we know what a first-class function is, where we can use them, and how important it is to use closures. Let's move ahead to classes and mixins.

The Dart language is dynamically typed, so we can write programs with or without the type annotations in our code. It's better to use the type annotations for the following reasons:

The fact that the type annotations were not included in our code does not prevent our program from running. The variables without the type annotations have a dynamic type and are marked with var or dynamic. Here are several recommendations where the type annotations are appropriate:

In the real world, we find many individual objects, all of the same kind. There are many cars with the same make and model. Each car was built from the same set of blueprints. All of them contain the same components and each one is an instance of the class of objects known as Car, as shown in the following code:

library car;

// Abstract class [Car] can't be instantiated.
abstract class Car {
  // Color of the car.
String color;
  // Speed of the car.
  double speed;
  // Carrying capacity
  double carrying;

  // Create new [Car] with [color] and [carrying] info.
  Car(this.color, this.carrying);

  // Move car with [speed]
  void move(double speed) {
    this.speed = speed;
  }

  // Stop car.
  void stop() {
    speed = 0.0;
  }
}

Objects have methods and instance variables. The color, speed, and carrying are instance variables. All of them have the value null as they were not initialized. The instance methods move and stop provide the behavior for an object and have access to instance variables and the this keyword. An object may have getters and setters—special methods with the get and set keywords that provide read and write access to the instance variables. The Car class is marked with the abstract modifier, so we can't create an instance of this class, but we can use it to define common characteristics and behaviors for all the subclasses.

Different kinds of objects can have different characteristics that are common with others. Passenger cars, trucks, and buses share the characteristics and behaviors of a car. This means that different kinds of cars inherit the commonly used characteristics and behaviors from the Car class. So, the Car class becomes the superclass for all the different kinds of cars. We allow passenger cars, trucks, and buses to have only one direct superclass. A Car class can have unlimited number of subclasses. In Dart, it is possible to extend from only one class. Every object extends by default from an Object class:

library passenger_car;

import 'car.dart';

// Passenger car with trailer.
class PassengerCar extends Car {
  // Max number of passengers.
  int maxPassengers;

  // Create [PassengerCar] with [color], [carrying] and [maxPassengers].
  PassengerCar(String color, double carrying, this.maxPassengers) :
    super(color, carrying);
}

The PassengerCar class is not an abstract and can be instantiated. It extends the characteristics of the abstract Car class and adds the maxPassengers variable.

Each Car class defines a set of characteristics and behaviors. All the characteristics and behaviors of a car define its interface—the way it interacts with the outside world. Acceleration pedal, steering wheel, and other things help us interact with the car through its interface. From our perspective, we don't know what really happens when we push the accelerator pedal, we only see the results of our interaction. Classes in Dart implicitly define an interface with the same name as the class. Therefore, you don't need interfaces in Dart as the abstract class serves the same purpose. The Car class implicitly defines an interface as a set of characteristics and behaviors.

If we define a racing car, then we must implement all the characteristics and behaviors of the Car class, but with substantial changes to the engine, suspension, breaks, and so on:

import 'car.dart';
import 'passenger_car.dart';

void main() {
  // Create an instance of passenger car of white color,
  // carrying 750 kg and max passengers 5.
  Car car = new PassengerCar('white', 750.0, 5);
  // Move it
  car.move(100.0);
}

Here, we just created an instance of PassengerCar and assigned it to the car variable without defining any special interfaces.

Dart has a mixin-based inheritance, so the class body can be reused in multiple class hierarchies, as shown in the following code:

library trailer;

// The trailer
class Trailer {
  // Access to car's [carrying] info
  double carrying = 0.0;

  // Trailer can carry [weight]
  void carry(double weight) {
    // Car's carrying increases on extra weight.
    carrying += weight;
  }
}

The Trailer class is independent of the Car class, but can increase the carrying weight capacity of the car. We use the with keyword followed by the Trailer class to add mixin to the PassengerCar class in the following code:

library passenger_car;

import 'car.dart';
import 'trailer.dart';

// Passenger car with trailer.
class PassengerCar extends Car with Trailer {
  // Max number of passengers.
  int maxPassengers = 4;

  /**
   * Create [PassengerCar] with [color], [carrying] and [maxPassengers].
   * We can use [Trailer] to carry [extraWeight].
   */
  PassengerCar(String color, double carrying, this.maxPassengers,
      {double extraWeight:0.0}) : super(color, carrying) {
    // We can carry extra weight with [Trailer]
    carry(extraWeight);
  }
}

We added Trailer as a mixin to PassengerCar and, as a result, PassengerCar can now carry more weight. Note that we haven't changed PassengerCar itself, we've only extended its functionality. At the same time, Trailer can be used in conjunction with the Truck or Bus classes. A mixin looks like an interface and is implicitly defined via a class declaration, but has the following restrictions:

What is the difference between well-designed and poorly-designed classes? Here are the features of a well-designed class:

All the preceding properties lead to encapsulation. It plays a significant role in OOP. Encapsulation has the following benefits:

All our preceding examples include public members. Is that right? So what is the rule that we must follow to create well-designed classes?

Let's follow the simple principles to create a well-designed class:

The last two principles can be seen in the following example. Let's assume we have a Car class with defined final static list of parts. We can initialize them with Pedal and Wheel, as shown in the following code:

class Car {
  // Be careful with that code !!!
static final List PARTS = ['Pedal', 'Wheel'];
}
void main() {
  print('${Car.PARTS}'); // Print: [Pedal, Wheel]

  // Change part
  Car.PARTS.remove('Wheel');
  print('${Car.PARTS}'); // Print: [Pedal]
}

However, there's a problem here. While we can't change the actual collection variable because it's marked as final, we can still change its contents. To prevent anyone from changing the contents of the collection, we change it from final to constant, as shown in the following code:

class Car {
  // This code is safe
  static const List PARTS = const ['Pedal', 'Wheel'];
}

void main() {
  print('${Car.PARTS}'); // Print: [Pedal, Wheel]

  // Change part
  Car.PARTS.remove('Wheel');
  print('${Car.PARTS}');
}

This code will generate the following exception if we try to change the contents of PARTS:

Unhandled exception:
Unsupported operation: Cannot modify an immutable array
#0 List.remove (dart:core-patch/array.dart:327)
…

In the previous section, we mentioned that nonfinal instance variables should never be public, but is this always right? Here's a situation where a class in our package has a public variable. In our Car class, we have a color field and it is deliberately kept as public, as shown in the following code:

// Is that class correct?
class Car {
  // Color of the car.
  String color;
}

If the Car class is accessible only inside the library, then there is nothing wrong with it having public fields, because they don't break the encapsulation concept of the library.

We defined the main rules to follow and create a well-designed class. Everything is perfect and we didn't break any rules. Now, it's time to use a well-designed class in our project. First, we will create a new class that extends the current one. However, that could be a problem as inheritance can break encapsulation.

It is always best to use inheritance in the following cases:

It's better not to use inheritance from ordinary classes because it's dangerous. Let's discuss why. For instance, someone developed the following Engine class to start and stop the general purpose engine:

// General purpose Engine
class Engine {
  // Start engine
  void start() {
     // ...
  }

  // Stop engine
  void stop() {
    // ...
  }
}

We inherited the DieselEngine class from the Engine class and defined when to start the engine that we need to initialize inside the init method, as shown in the following code:

import 'engine.dart';

// Diesel Engine
class DieselEngine extends Engine {
  DieselEngine();

  // Initialize engine before start
  void init() {
    // ...
  }
  void start() {
   // Engine must be initialized before use
   init();
   // Start engine
   super.start();
  }
}

Then, suppose someone changed their mind and decided that the implementation Engine must be initialized and added the init method to the Engine class, as follows:

// General purpose Engine
class Engine {
  // Initialize engine before start
  void init() {
    // ...
  }

  // Start engine
  void start() {
    init();
  }

  // Stop engine
  void stop() {
    // ...
  }
}

As a result, the init method in DieselEngine overrides the same method from the Engine superclass. The init method in the superclass is an implementation detail. The implementation details can be changed many times in future from release to release. The DieselEngine class is tightly-coupled with and depends on the implementation details of the Engine superclass. To fix this problem, we can use a different approach, as follows:

import 'engine.dart';

// Diesel Engine
class DieselEngine implements Engine {
  Engine _engine;

  DieselEngine() {
    _engine = new Engine();
  }

  // Initialize engine before start
  void init() {
    // ...
  }

  void start() {
    // Engine must be initialized before use
    init();
    // Start engine
    _engine.start();
  }

  void stop() {
    _engine.stop();
  }
}

We created the private engine variable in our DieselEngine class that references an instance of the Engine class. Engine now becomes a component of DieselEngine. This is called a composition. Each method in DieselEngine calls the corresponding method in the Engine instance. This technique is called forwarding, because we forward the method's call to the instance of the Engine class. As a result, our solution is safe and solid. If a new method is added to Engine, it doesn't break our implementation.

The disadvantages of this approach are associated performance issues and increased memory usage.

The class constructors, methods, mutators (setters), and operators remove some restrictions on the values that must be passed into their parameters .What will happen if an invalid parameter value is passed to a method? One possibility is that the method will fail with a confusing exception or worse it will succeed but with a wrong result. In any case, it's dangerous not check the parameters of a method before using them. The rule here is to check whether the parameter value is valid as soon as possible. The best place to do that is at the beginning of the method.

The Dart VM can work in a developer-friendly checked mode and a speed-obsessed production mode. We usually use the checked mode when developing our applications. One of the benefits of this mode is the dynamic assertion. We should use the assert statement to check whether the parameters of the method are valid before using it. The Dart VM continues the program execution if the Boolean result of the dynamic assertion is true, otherwise stops it. This is shown in the following code:

/**
 * Return sum of [a] and [b].
 * It throws [AssertionError] if any of [a] or [b] equals null
 */
sum(int a, int b) {
  assert(a != null);
  assert(b != null);
  return a + b;
}

We must check the validity of the parameters stored in the method for later use. Ignoring this can lead to problems later because an error associated with the parameter can be thrown in a completely different place, making it harder to trace its source. This has serious implications, especially in constructors.

Sometimes, it is important to validate the internal state of a class in the method and generate a special error, as shown in the following code. The typical errors are StateError, RangeError, and ArgumentError.

class Car {
  double petrol;

  /**
   * Start engine.
   * That method throws [StateError] if petrol is null
   * or less than 5 liters.
   */
  void startEngine() {
    if (petrol == null || petrol <= 5.0) {
      throw new StateError('Not enough petrol');
    }
  }
}

Here, we have a Car class with the petrol variable and the startEngine method. The startEngine method checks whether there is enough petrol to start the engine; otherwise, it throws an error.

So, now that we've defined well-designed classes, it's time to define well-designed methods. We must remember that methods are part of a class' interface and the following simple rules can make them easier to use and also less error-prone:

A car may have the following different types of engines:

// Engine interface
abstract class Engine {
  void start();
}

// Diesel engine
class DieselEngine implements Engine {
  void start() {
    // ...
  }
}

// Carburetor engine
class CarburetorEngine implements Engine {
  void start() {
    // ...
  }
}

// Car
class Car {
  var engine;

  // Car may have any engine
  Car(Engine this.engine);
}

It's better to pass the abstract Engine class as a parameter of the constructor for the car to prevent any problems in future.