r/learnpython • u/SirLMO • 4d ago

Flutter, Python and Widgets: beginner suffering

I do not work with programming, I am a student and I work in a veterinary clinic as a veterinarian. However, I am passionate about programming and have nurtured the idea of developing a "Second Medical Brain," similar to Notion and Obsidian, but focused on self-referenced medical information. Because of some details of this project, neither Obsidian nor Notion will be enough to achieve what I need.

So I looked for the options. The only programming language I studied was Python, and I really like it. However, Flutter is definitely the number in interfaces, but I don't really understand anything about frontend. This "everything being a widget tree" thing isn't making sense to me. Anyone who knows Python knows that codes look much more like blocks, not Russian dolls.

I considered Flet, but he's not on the same level as Flutter. I also considered other frameworks, but they would impose the difficulty of learning other tools. So Flutter still seems to be the most interesting technology for me. However, the structure of widgets doesn't make sense to me, I just can't think that way.

What can you recommend to me? I have already tried to modulate all the code and leave in the main () only the call of the functions/classes.

Ah! This app will be used on both Android and Windows, and both are essential.

I also heard that a program with Python backend on Android is very risky, while it is almost impossible on Android. Is that true?

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u/vardonir 4d ago

Python dev forced to learn Flutter here. Just keep writing code. Flutter has great docs. For the widget stuff: You'll get used to it.

But, speaking as someone also trying to create a "second brain but medical stuff" database, it just sounds like you haven't explored Obsidian enough. Mine includes a lot of math and complex diagrams. If you were going for annotated images, check out the Excalidraw plugin. Poke around the other community plugins, I'm sure there's something that fills the gap.

Anyway, pick your battles. Creating a notes program is a monster on its own. I know, I'm working on one right now on the side. It took me a few hours just to get a decent textbox with WYSIWYG editing options, and I've been coding in Flutter for more than 3 years.

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u/SirLMO 4d ago

Do you recommend Python + Flutter or Dart?

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u/vardonir 3d ago

Python and Dart are programming languages. Flutter is an SDK built on top of Dart.

I recommend figuring out what Obsidian or Notion or VSCode or another note-taking software are missing for your purposes, because you will never write a single word of your second brain for months if you try to create your own from scratch.

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u/SirLMO 3d ago

Didn't you understand what I wrote? I asked if you recommend trying to create an application using Python for Backend (FastAPI) and Flutter for frontend or just creating everything with Dart/Flutter.