Using Dart FFI to access native libraries in Flutter

Dart is a versatile programming language that is well-documented and easy to learn but may fall short in some areas of Flutter app development, particularly when needing to link with external binary libraries or implement code in lower-level languages like C or Rust. The Foreign Function Interface (FFI) via the dart:ffi library addresses these limitations by allowing Flutter apps to call native libraries written in other languages, enabling code sharing across different platforms and improving app performance. The article explores how to use Dart FFI to access native libraries in Flutter, starting with a simple example of integrating a C library into a Dart application. It covers the basics of dynamically linking libraries, generating bindings with the ffigen tool, and implementing a JSON parser using the cJSON library. Additionally, it provides a detailed guide on configuring compilers for Android and iOS, generating FFI binding code, and loading dynamic libraries within a Flutter app. The approach offers developers the flexibility to incorporate native code, written in languages like Go and Rust, into Dart and Flutter applications, enhancing functionality and efficiency.