React Native Vs Flutter Vs Kotlin Vs Swift Vs Java Comparison: Which One To Choose?

The year is 2023, and the world is becoming smarter thanks to cell phones. This necessitates the development of an increasing number of applications with which your target audience may interact.

They (mobile apps) must be strong, dynamic, and efficient, which necessitates the year’s comparison: React Native vs Flutter vs Kotlin vs Swift vs Java.

OK, we’re ready to go — React Native for the start!

What Is React Native?

React Native is an open-source cross-platform solution built on JavaScript. Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook) was introduced it in 2015, and it quickly rose to the position of the alternative and effective framework utilized by big organizations. This framework’s highlights include being cross-platform, dependable, cost-effective, lucrative for developers, and regularly improved. Instagram, Bloomberg, UberEats, Discord, AirBnB, Gyroscope, and many other mobile apps are created with React Native.

React Native Advantages

Easy to work with — The development experience will undoubtedly be appreciated by experienced developers. Its meaningful error warnings, time-saving features, and sophisticated tools set it apart from competing systems.

Works everywhere — Once you’ve mastered React Native, you’ll be able to create apps for iOS, Android, and Windows.

Quick iteration cycles — This merely adds extra value.

Intelligent debugging tools — as well as error reporting methods, Give it a competitive advantage and allow developers to focus more on the productive aspect.

Easier to debug — Flipper is the default.

Keep things minimal and worthy — It does not need you to create iOS or Android apps in Xcode or Android Studio.

A large community of developers — They contribute on a daily basis

Code reusability — 90% of the native framework may be readily integrated and reused for any platform by developers. This functionality not only saves time but also lowers the cost of developing two apps. The web app code (written in React) may be used to create a mobile app.

Pre-developed components — There are various open-source libraries available to help you get things done faster.

Live reloading feature — Compiling and reading the file from the point where the developer made modifications is beneficial. The stimulator is then presented with a fresh file, which begins reading the file from the beginning.

Compatible with third-party plugins — It does not need a large amount of RAM to process. There are no particular web views functions required, and native modules are linked to the plugin via the framework. Its primary benefits are smoother operation and quicker loading.

Transform web projects into mobile applications — Work done on this platform is simple to grasp, and anyone can work around it even if they have never worked with it before. It improves flexibility and makes site updates more constant.

Smoother and faster UI — as compared to traditional hybrids React Native apps render their UI using native APIs.

One codebase for all — the ability to execute a project in an Android, iOS, and web browser using a single codebase

Expo — It’s an excellent tool for quickly developing apps for a variety of platforms, with numerous ready-to-use libraries included in the SDK.

Demo mode — When utilizing Expo, you may create a demo for a customer without publishing the app to Testflight or the Google Play Store. All we need is an Expo App on a mobile device.

Hot reloading — allows developers to view the changes they made to the code nearly instantly, saving a significant amount of time

React Native Disadvantages

Of course, React Native has its drawbacks, as do other technologies:

Performance is still lower than native — React Native cannot take advantage of all of a platform’s benefits and possibilities. A native app, on the other hand, can truly optimize functionality and give the best user experience.

However, the re-architecture takes significant efforts to make RN more performant; for example, there is a new JS engine available — Hermes — which allows applications to run significantly quicker on older Android devices.

Not efficient design-wise — If you believe complex designs or advanced interactions to be an important component of your competitive edge, you should absolutely explore native development.

Custom modules — Many custom modules are currently available; nevertheless, you may require some specialized components that you must design from scratch.

Updating issues — It’s difficult to maintain the app up to date with the most recent React Native version. In most circumstances, updating React Native versions is a difficult procedure.

What Is Flutter?

Flutter is a UI software development kit (SDK) that Google formally launched in May 2017. So, if I mentioned Kotlin is a newcomer to the market, I need to retract that statement. Flutter is even more youthful. It’s an open-source framework that lets you create native-looking apps for both Android and iOS using a single codebase. It’s written in Dart, another Google’s kid, so it’s not a programming language in and of itself. However, it provides developers with the required underpinnings for creating a cross-platform programme. That includes pre-written code, a plethora of useful widgets, documentation, libraries, and all other tools.

Flutter Advantage

Ease of learning and ease of use — “Flutter is excellent, but remember, my buddy — you need some Dart professionals,” shouldn’t send shivers up your spine. If a developer has some expertise with prior C-like syntactic languages (for example, C#, Java, or JavaScript), he may be productive in Dart in a matter of weeks. Because Dart is a fairly intuitive programming language, there’s even an expression among developers that one may already know it without realising it. Furthermore, it is easily and rapidly deployed (in less than 30 minutes) and allows you to construct a functional application with far less lines of code (quite similar to Kotlin).

The effectiveness of both the budget and the work time — Building an app for both Android and iOS on a same codebase enables for cost and time savings. You don’t need to invest in any more resources; simply put, you build two applications while just paying for one. So it’s like having a Black Friday every time you start a new project. And, of course, it shortens the time of the entire development process. Because the aforementioned set of native widgets is extremely likely to be compatible with diverse operating systems, you may test your code less frequently. Furthermore, Flutter does not require any bridge to connect with native components, giving it a significant edge over competing cross-platform frameworks.

As a result, successive stages of development are simple to do and occur in a shorter period of time.

Hot reload functionality — It’s fantastic to make front-end changes to your code and test their impact while the mobile app is running. You can achieve this with Flutter’s functionality. As a result, you don’t have to reload the entire programme every time you design UI, add features, repair issues, and so on. This is a benefit of cross-platform development over native development. Because recurring reloads take time, real-time modifications can only boost your productivity.

Accessibility and rising popularity — Flutter, as you may recall from the introduction, is a free and open-source framework. Both may be said about Dart as a programming language. So that is the benefit of Flutter shaking hands with Swift. You get complete access to the fundamental code as well as additional components such as widgets and documentation. The developers’ faith in this solution grows as a result of its accessibility. According to a Statista poll, Flutter will be the most popular cross-platform mobile framework in 2021, with 42% of users. It has seen significant growth in the previous two years, with just 30% of developers preferring it in 2019. And, if my prediction is correct, this proportion will be considerably greater in 2023.

Flutter Disadvantages

Relatively short existence — Even while the popularity of Flutter is growing and does not appear to be slowing down in the near future, we must live in the moment. And, don’t forget, we’re dealing with a cross-platform framework that’s even younger than Kotlin. As a result, the previously noted restricted labour disadvantage also applies to Flutter. This framework still has a need of expertise. However, because things are moving swiftly, this assertion may become obsolete unnoticeably.

Shortage of plugins — This disadvantage is also related to Flutter’s brief life. When it comes to the quantity of plugins, it still behind more experienced competitors like ReactNative (more on that later). As a result, while attempting to implement complex functionality, it is quite likely that you will not discover any plugin in a third-party library. As a result, you’ll have to compose it yourself. It’s unwelcome additional effort. However, the conclusion may be similar to the last criticism — more and more plugins are continually being added in Flutter, therefore this problem is certain to go away within a year.

Apps built in Flutter take up much space — That’s a recurring problem with Flutter. The codes written there may be shorter, but they are rather large. With limited capacity on mobile devices, a user is unlikely to be willing to eliminate other files, films, and other content merely to create a place for a Flutter app. The facts are clear: despite the fact that the minimum size of a Flutter app has been decreased from 6.7 MB to 4.7 MB, it is still much larger than, for example, Java (539 kB) or Kotlin (550 kB). It’s worth noting that React Native is also on the bad side of the force here, but I’ll go into that later.

What Is Kotlin?

Kotlin is a structured query programming language that is open source and targets JVM, Android, JavaScript, and Native. JetBrains is the company behind it. The project began in 2010 and was open source from the beginning. In February 2016, the first official 1.0 release occurred.

Kotlin Advantage

Maximize the productivity — Kotlin is a Java-based programming language. Kotlin can quickly eliminate Java’s annoyances and obsolescence. Kotlin is a concise, dynamic language. Kotlin can increase the development team’s productivity because it requires minimal time to create and can be deployed quickly.

Works with existing Java Code — Kotlin is compatible with Java code. Kotlin is compatible with Java and many other frameworks and tools. So moving to Kotlin is considerably simpler. If the product you’re creating can’t be written entirely in Kotlin, you may utilize the other, and the two can comfortably coexist.

Can be easily maintained — Many IDEs, including Android Studio and many other SDK tools, support Kotlin. It can also increase the developer’s efficiency by dealing with toolkits that they are already familiar with.

Less Buggy — As we all know, Kotlin is a clean and compact codebase that leaves no room for error; it also contributes to more stable code in production. The compiler will discover every conceivable error throughout a compile-time period with no commotion.

Reliable — There are other programming languages accessible, but Kotlin is the most complex. Kotlin made his big screen premiere in 2011. Kotlin has gone through multiple Beta and Alfa phases since its introduction before being released in its ultimate form.

Easy to learn — Kotlin intends to improve rather than rewrite Java’s features. Mobile developers who have worked with Java may simply transition to Kotlin, and their knowledge of Java will remain relevant and useful in Kotlin.

merges functional and procedural programming — There are several programming languages available on the market today, each with its own set of Advantages and downsides. Kotlin has blended the best of functional and procedural programming to achieve the finest outcomes.

Kotlin Disadvantages

Limited workforce — We must not forget that, despite the fact that its initial version was launched 10 years ago, Kotlin is still regarded a relatively young participant on the market. If you decide to create an app in Kotlin, finding suitable programmers will be more challenging than with older and more established languages. If you must work in Kotlin, though, I have a hidden way for you. Java developers, according to reports, don’t require much time to learn Kotlin, so give it a chance!

High maintenance cost — But let’s be honest here. When you’re keen to have a well-qualified Kotlin staff, you can’t cut corners. Teaching developers a new coding language is always an investment. Only then can you claim to have handled the situation appropriately. Furthermore, Kotlin SDK features aren’t totally native, which boosts its overall worth. It appears most prominently during the early stages of mobile app development. That is to say, I am working on prototypes or minimal viable products (MVPs).

Long compilation time — Kotlin takes a long time to compile. Most people relate it to its mother-in-law, also known as Java. It makes no difference whether the process runs with or without the Gradle daemon, or if any other variables are taken into account. The benefit of Java in compilation time is significant.

What Is Swift?

Swift is an Apple-developed, multi-paradigm, compiled programming language that was published in 2014. It’s called cross-platform, but in practice, it’s largely used to develop apps for iOS, macOS, Darwin, and other Apple operating systems. The main IT business has made it an open-source language. It is also user-friendly, engaging, sturdy, intuitive, and dependable. Swift’s accessible syntax and grammar are its distinguishing features.

Swift was ranked sixth in the top ten programming languages used by developers in the 2021 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, with 63.56%. The language works flawlessly with Apple’s frameworks, including Cocoa and Cocoa Touch. LinkedIn, WordPress, Asana, Wikipedia, and other prominent iOS mobile apps created in Swift

Swift Advantage

High Speed — Swift’s syntax and grammar are so simple to learn that it is one of the quickest programming languages on the market. According to the Apple website, it is up to 2.6 times quicker than Objective-C and 8.4 times faster than Python.

Companies may now develop their products far more efficiently as a result of this. Let me offer you an example: the first version of Lyft had over 75,000 lines of code, but after migrating to Swift, this number was cut in half. As a result, application development is faster…

Safety and ease of maintenance — …safer and easier to maintain. To maintain all of the code, only one file is required. Other languages, such as Objective-C, have two distinct files for header and implementation. Furthermore, because the code is short and straightforward, it is less likely to be regularly detected and fixed. Automatic Reference Counting is a Swift feature that aids in code safety and maintenance (ARC). Because of this, the memory of your app is automatically managed and maintained, allowing you to focus on other more critical stages of app development.

Open-source accessibility — The language is readily available for developers to use in order to create an iOS app. They may also offer their best lines of code, ideas for quickly fixing issues, and any other useful advice. It benefits language quality while also contributing to the development of a strong, professional community. Just like the Kotlin one, if someone has an issue with a language, he may go to a trustworthy area for help.

Swift Disadvantages

Continuous changes — Swift, like the preceding ones, may be considered part of a new wave of programming languages. As a result, it is subjected to frequent adjustments and tests, with no assurance of success. As a result, some developers may not be familiar with all of Swift’s features and capabilities because they can always wake up and find it significantly altered. In comparison to other languages, the number of libraries and frameworks is also lower.

The preliminary step of implementing a cross-platform feature — Swift is difficult to agree on as a programming language with complete cross-platform compatibility. As previously stated, it is still compatible with its original operating system, iOS, and other Apple products. However, with the release of SCADE 2.0, this disadvantage may be turned into a positive, as Kotlin did with its Multiplatform. However, as I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, we must wait and see if this adjustment will match the high expectations.

Compatibility issues with neutral tools or IDEs — It’s another another result of Swift’s ongoing evolution. Because the language might change every morning, it’s tough to discover a third-party programme designed to correct previously identified flaws. Even the official Apple IDE occasionally lacks appropriate answers to common issues. Autocomplete, refactoring tools, syntax highlighting, and compilers are among them.

What Is Java?

Java is a popular object-oriented programming language and software platform that powers billions of devices such as laptop computers, mobile devices, gaming consoles, medical equipment, and many more. Java’s ideas and syntax are based on the C and C++ computer languages.

Java Advantage

Java is Simple — A language is deemed simple if it is straightforward to learn and understand. Java syntax is simple, easy to develop, learn, maintain, and comprehend, and the code is easily debuggable.

Furthermore, Java is less difficult than languages such as C and C++ because many of these languages’ sophisticated features, such as explicit pointers, storage classes, operator overloading, and many others, have been eliminated from Java.

Java is an Object-Oriented Programming language — Java is an object-oriented programming language that allows us to increase the flexibility and reusability of our work. We may simply reuse the object in different programmes by using the OOPs idea.

It also adds to greater security by integrating data and functions into a single unit that the outside world cannot access.

Java is a secure language — By minimising the usage of explicit pointers, Java decreases security concerns and dangers. A pointer is a value that maintains the memory address of another value that can be used to gain unauthorised access to memory.

This problem is overcome by eliminating the idea of pointers. In addition, each Java programme has a Security manager that allows us to create class access restrictions.

Java is inexpensive and simple to maintain. — Java programs are inexpensive to design and maintain since they rely on a certain hardware infrastructure to function. We can easily perform them on any system, lowering the extra expense of maintenance.

Java is platform-independent — Java provides a highly significant benefit to its users by giving the platform-agnostic capability known as Write Once Run Anywhere (WORA).

Java’s compiled code, or byte code, is platform-independent and may run on any machine, regardless of the operating system.

Java supports Multithreading- Java is a multithreaded language, which means that several threads can execute at the same time. A thread is a process’s smallest unit. Multithreading allows us to maximize CPU use.

Disadvantage Of Java

Java is slow and has poor performance — Java uses a lot of memory and is much slower than native languages like C or C++. It is also slower than other languages such as C and C++ since each code must be translated to machine-level code.

This sluggish performance is caused by the JVM’s additional level of compilation and abstraction. Furthermore, because the garbage collector requires additional CPU time, it might contribute to poor Java performance.

Java provides no backup facility — Java is primarily concerned with storage and does not prioritise data backup. This is a significant disadvantage that causes it to lose user interest and ratings.

Java requires significant memory space — When compared to other languages like C and C++, Java necessitates a significant or substantial amount of memory space. Memory efficiency and system performance may be negatively impacted during trash collection execution.

Summary

There are several aspects to consider, beginning with the most important: whether you intend to focus your app on Android, iOS, or both. As of present, Kotlin is wonderful for Android, Swift is great for iOS, and Flutter and React Native may be used to mix both operating systems. However, these features are evolving, particularly with regard to programming languages.