12/29/24, 1:21 PM Layout tutorial | Flutter

Build a Flutter layout

UI chevron_right Layout chevron_right Layout tutorial

Contents keyboard_arrow_down
Diagram the layout
Create the app base code
Add the Title section

more_horiz

What you'll learn

How to lay out widgets next to each other.
How to add space between widgets.
How adding and nesting widgets results in a Flutter layout.

This tutorial explains how to design and build layouts in Flutter.

If you use the example code provided, you can build the following app.

The finished app.

Photo by Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash. Text by Switzerland Tourism.

To get a better overview of the layout mechanism, start with Flutter's approach to layout.

Diagram the layout

In this section, consider what type of user experience you want for your app users.

Consider how to position the components of your user interface. A layout consists of the total end result of these positionings.
Consider planning your layout to speed up your coding. Using visual cues to know where something goes on screen can be a
great help.

Use whichever method you prefer, like an interface design tool or a pencil and a sheet of paper. Figure out where you want to
place elements on your screen before writing code. It's the programming version of the adage: "Measure twice, cut once."

1. Ask these questions to break the layout down to its basic elements.

Can you identify the rows and columns?

Does the layout include a grid?
Are there overlapping elements?
Does the UI need tabs?
What do you need to align, pad, or border?

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2. Identify the larger elements. In this example, you arrange the image, title, buttons, and description into a column.

Major elements in the layout: image, row, row, and text block

3. Diagram each row.

a. Row 1, the Title section, has three children: a column of text, a star icon, and a number. Its first child, the column,
contains two lines of text. That first column might need more space.

Title section with text blocks and an icon

b. Row 2, the Button section, has three children: each child contains a column which then contains an icon and text.

The Button section with three labeled buttons

After diagramming the layout, consider how you would code it.

Would you write all the code in one class? Or, would you create one class for each part of the layout?

To follow Flutter best practices, create one class, or Widget, to contain each part of your layout. When Flutter needs to re-render
part of a UI, it updates the smallest part that changes. This is why Flutter makes "everything a widget". If only the text changes in
a Text widget, Flutter redraws only that text. Flutter changes the least amount of the UI possible in response to user input.

For this tutorial, write each element you have identified as its own widget.

Create the app base code

In this section, shell out the basic Flutter app code to start your app.

1. Set up your Flutter environment.

2. Create a new Flutter app.

3. Replace the contents of lib/main.dart with the following code. This app uses a parameter for the app title and the title
shown on the app's appBar. This decision simplifies the code.

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dart
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

void main() => runApp(const MyApp());

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {

const MyApp({super.key});

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
const String appTitle = 'Flutter layout demo';
return MaterialApp(
title: appTitle,
home: Scaffold(
appBar: AppBar(
title: const Text(appTitle),
),
body: const Center(
child: Text('Hello World'),
),
),
);
}
}

Add the Title section

In this section, create a TitleSection widget that resembles the following layout.

The Title section as sketch and prototype UI

Add the TitleSection Widget

Add the following code after the MyApp class.

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dart
class TitleSection extends StatelessWidget {
const TitleSection({
super.key,
required this.name,
required this.location,
});

final String name;

final String location;

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Padding(
padding: const EdgeInsets.all(32),
child: Row(
children: [
Expanded(
/*1*/
child: Column(
crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
children: [
/*2*/
Padding(
padding: const EdgeInsets.only(bottom: 8),
child: Text(
name,
style: const TextStyle(
fontWeight: FontWeight.bold,
),
),
),
Text(
location,
style: TextStyle(
color: Colors.grey[500],
),
),
],
),
),
/*3*/
Icon(
Icons.star,
color: Colors.red[500],
),
const Text('41'),
],
),
);
}
}

1. To use all remaining free space in the row, use the Expanded widget to stretch the Column widget. To place the column at the
start of the row, set the crossAxisAlignment property to CrossAxisAlignment.start.
2. To add space between the rows of text, put those rows in a Padding widget.
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3. The title row ends with a red star icon and the text 41. The entire row falls inside a Padding widget and pads each edge by 32
pixels.

Change the app body to a scrolling view

In the body property, replace the Center widget with a SingleChildScrollView widget. Within the SingleChildScrollView
widget, replace the Text widget with a Column widget.

dart
- body: const Center(
- child: Text('Hello World'),
+ body: const SingleChildScrollView(
+ child: Column(
+ children: [

These code updates change the app in the following ways.

A SingleChildScrollView widget can scroll. This allows elements that don't fit on the current screen to display.
A Column widget displays any elements within its children property in the order listed. The first element listed in the
children list displays at the top of the list. Elements in the children list display in array order on the screen from top to
bottom.

Update the app to display the title section

Add the TitleSection widget as the first element in the children list. This places it at the top of the screen. Pass the provided
name and location to the TitleSection constructor.

dart
+ children: [
+ TitleSection(
+ name: 'Oeschinen Lake Campground',
+ location: 'Kandersteg, Switzerland',
+ ),
+ ],

lightbulb Tip
When pasting code into your app, indentation can become skewed. To fix this in your Flutter editor, use automatic
reformatting support.
To accelerate your development, try Flutter's hot reload feature.
If you have problems, compare your code to lib/main.dart.

Add the Button section

In this section, add the buttons that will add functionality to your app.

The Button section contains three columns that use the same layout: an icon over a row of text.

The Button section as sketch and prototype UI

Plan to distribute these columns in one row so each takes the same amount of space. Paint all text and icons with the primary
color.

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Add the ButtonSection widget

Add the following code after the TitleSection widget to contain the code to build the row of buttons.

dart
class ButtonSection extends StatelessWidget {
const ButtonSection({super.key});

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
final Color color = Theme.of(context).primaryColor;
// ···
}
}

Create a widget to make buttons

As the code for each column could use the same syntax, create a widget named ButtonWithText. The widget's constructor
accepts a color, icon data, and a label for the button. Using these values, the widget builds a Column with an Icon and a stylized
Text widget as its children. To help separate these children, a Padding widget the Text widget is wrapped with a Padding widget.

Add the following code after the ButtonSection class.

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dart
class ButtonSection extends StatelessWidget {
const ButtonSection({super.key});
// ···
}

class ButtonWithText extends StatelessWidget {

const ButtonWithText({
super.key,
required this.color,
required this.icon,
required this.label,
});

final Color color;

final IconData icon;
final String label;

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Column(
mainAxisSize: MainAxisSize.min,
mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
children: [
Icon(icon, color: color),
Padding(
padding: const EdgeInsets.only(top: 8),
child: Text(
label,
style: TextStyle(
fontSize: 12,
fontWeight: FontWeight.w400,
color: color,
),
),
),
],
);
}

Position the buttons with a Row widget

Add the following code into the ButtonSection widget.

1. Add three instances of the ButtonWithText widget, once for each button.
2. Pass the color, Icon, and text for that specific button.
3. Align the columns along the main axis with the MainAxisAlignment.spaceEvenly value. The main axis for a Row widget is
horizontal and the main axis for a Column widget is vertical. This value, then, tells Flutter to arrange the free space in equal
amounts before, between, and after each column along the Row.

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dart
class ButtonSection extends StatelessWidget {
const ButtonSection({super.key});

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
final Color color = Theme.of(context).primaryColor;
return SizedBox(
child: Row(
mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.spaceEvenly,
children: [
ButtonWithText(
color: color,
icon: Icons.call,
label: 'CALL',
),
ButtonWithText(
color: color,
icon: Icons.near_me,
label: 'ROUTE',
),
ButtonWithText(
color: color,
icon: Icons.share,
label: 'SHARE',
),
],
),
);
}
}

class ButtonWithText extends StatelessWidget {

const ButtonWithText({
super.key,
required this.color,
required this.icon,
required this.label,
});

final Color color;

final IconData icon;
final String label;

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Column(
// ···
);
}
}

Update the app to display the button section

Add the button section to the children list.

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dart
TitleSection(
name: 'Oeschinen Lake Campground',
location: 'Kandersteg, Switzerland',
),
+ ButtonSection(),
],

Add the Text section

In this section, add the text description to this app.

The text block as sketch and prototype UI

Add the TextSection widget

Add the following code as a separate widget after the ButtonSection widget.

dart
class TextSection extends StatelessWidget {
const TextSection({
super.key,
required this.description,
});

final String description;

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Padding(
padding: const EdgeInsets.all(32),
child: Text(
description,
softWrap: true,
),
);
}
}

By setting softWrap to true, text lines fill the column width before wrapping at a word boundary.

Update the app to display the text section

Add a new TextSection widget as a child after the ButtonSection. When adding the TextSection widget, set its description
property to the text of the location description.

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dart
location: 'Kandersteg, Switzerland',
),
ButtonSection(),
+ TextSection(
+ description:
+ 'Lake Oeschinen lies at the foot of the Blüemlisalp in the '
+ 'Bernese Alps. Situated 1,578 meters above sea level, it '
+ 'is one of the larger Alpine Lakes. A gondola ride from '
+ 'Kandersteg, followed by a half-hour walk through pastures '
+ 'and pine forest, leads you to the lake, which warms to 20 '
+ 'degrees Celsius in the summer. Activities enjoyed here '
+ 'include rowing, and riding the summer toboggan run.',
+ ),
],

Add the Image section

In this section, add the image file to complete your layout.

Configure your app to use supplied images

To configure your app to reference images, modify its pubspec.yaml file.

1. Create an images directory at the top of the project.

2. Download the lake.jpg image and add it to the new images directory.

info Note
You can't use wget to save this binary file. You can download the image from Unsplash under the Unsplash License.
The small size comes in at 94.4 kB.

3. To include images, add an assets tag to the pubspec.yaml file at the root directory of your app. When you add assets, it
serves as the set of pointers to the images available to your code.

pubspec.yaml

yaml
flutter:
uses-material-design: true
+ assets:
+ - images/lake.jpg

lightbulb Tip
Text in the pubspec.yaml respects whitespace and text case. Write the changes to the file as given in the previous example.

This change might require you to restart the running program to display the image.

Create the ImageSection widget

Define the following ImageSection widget after the other declarations.

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dart
class ImageSection extends StatelessWidget {
const ImageSection({super.key, required this.image});

final String image;

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Image.asset(
image,
width: 600,
height: 240,
fit: BoxFit.cover,
);
}
}

The BoxFit.cover value tells Flutter to display the image with two constraints. First, display the image as small as possible.
Second, cover all the space that the layout allotted, called the render box.

Update the app to display the image section

Add an ImageSection widget as the first child in the children list. Set the image property to the path of the image you added in
Configure your app to use supplied images.

dart
children: [
+ ImageSection(
+ image: 'images/lake.jpg',
+ ),
TitleSection(
name: 'Oeschinen Lake Campground',
location: 'Kandersteg, Switzerland',

Congratulations
That's it! When you hot reload the app, your app should look like this.

The finished app

Resources
You can access the resources used in this tutorial from these locations:

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Dart code: main.dart

Image: ch-photo
Pubspec: pubspec.yaml

Next Steps
To add interactivity to this layout, follow the interactivity tutorial.

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