Get Started with Flutter for Beginners (Setup)

4 min readMar 30, 2024

You’ll need to setup your local machine first to begin writing code in Flutter.

Setup your development environment

First, you’ll need to download and install the flutter sdk from the official website: https://docs.flutter.dev/get-started/install

Here you’ll have the options to choose your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS)

Choose your OS and the next step you get is to choose what kind of app you are going to develop. Choose what’s recommended and move forward.

I presume most of you guys have Windows, so i’ll show you how to install it on Windows.

URL: https://docs.flutter.dev/get-started/install/windows/mobile

First of all, you’ll need to verify your system requirements as follows:

With that being said, there are a few development tools you need to install to get started.

Git (https://git-scm.com/downloads) Choose your OS and install it (required)
Visual Studio (with the the Desktop development with C++) *not visual studio code (THIS is optional, if you want to develop for windows with flutter)
Andriod Studio Latest (https://developer.android.com/studio) to debug and compile Java/Kotlin code for android (required)
Google Chrome/Brave to build the web apps with Flutter (optional)
text editor or Integrated Development Environment (IDE) : Visual Studio Code (VS Code) / Android Studio / IntelliJ IDEA

* I personally use Visual Studio Code. It’s lightweight compared to Android Studio, and it’s very easy and simple to use. (Download here:https://code.visualstudio.com/)

Download Flutter

Now you have the option to download and install Flutter if you follow the docs correctly. (AT this moment, flutter version is 3.19.5)

Download the zip file. and place the zip file to the Downloads folder.

Now move the zip file to (C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local) where username is your laptop’s name, either root or your personal name.

Extract the zip file there.

After that, you’ll need to update your Windows PATH Variable

Update PATH variable

Press Windows + pause OR windows + fn + B
Then System > About dialog displays
Go to Advanced System Settings > Advanced > Environment Variables
In the User variables for (username) section, look for the Path entry.

https://docs.flutter.dev/get-started/install/windows/mobile?tab=download

5. Then close and reopen if your terminal or command prompt is open.

Configure Android Studio

Open Andriod Studio after you install it.

Follow the Android Studio Setup Wizard and install the following components:

Android SDK Platform, API 34.0.0
Android SDK Command-line Tools
Android SDK Build-Tools
Android SDK Platform-Tools
Android Emulator

After you set it up, you’ll need to setup the android emulator (The Android Emulator simulates Android devices on your computer)

Now go to the settings in Android Studio and open the Device Manager. Click Virtual and create a new device.

Select Phone or Tablet and select any device like Pixel 8 Pro or Pixel 6.

Now select latest system image. If the image is not downloaded, you’ll see the download button on the right side of the name. Click there to download.

Finish the setup and you’ll see the device right there. If you choose to run it, there’s a play icon you can click.

Agree to Android licenses

Go to your command prompt or terminal and enter the following:

flutter doctor --android-licenses

Check your development setup

flutter doctor

This should show up and the Setup is complete.

Now you can open the visual studio code or VS code. To get ease with the flutter development, go to the extensions and search for the Flutter and Dart extension to install it.