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Set up Flutter/Dart+Rust support from scratch

This documentation is archived, though technically still correct. Have a look at integrating with existing projects chapters for a more detailed demonstration.

I suggest that you can start with the Flutter example first, and modify it to satisfy your needs. It can serve as a template for new projects. It is run against CI so we are sure it works.

Indeed, this library is nothing but a code generator that helps your Flutter/Dart functions call Rust functions. Therefore, "how to create a Flutter app that can run Rust code" is actually out of the scope of this library, and there are already several tutorials on the Internet.

However, I can sketch the outline of what to do if you want to set up a new Flutter+Rust project as follows.

Step 1​

Create a new Flutter project (or use an existing one). The Dart SDK should be >=2.17.0 if you want to use the latest ffigen tool.

Step 2​

Create a new Rust project, say, at directory rust under the Flutter project.

Step 3​

Edit Cargo.toml and add:

[lib]
name = "flutter_rust_bridge_example" # whatever you like
# notice this type. `cdylib` for android, and `staticlib` for iOS. I write down a script to change it before build.
+ crate-type = ["cdylib"]

Step 4​

Follow the standard steps of "how iOS uses static libraries".

  1. In XCode, edit Strip Style in Build Settings to Debugging Symbols.
  2. Add your lib{crate}.a to Link Binary With Libraries in Build Phases.
  3. Add binding.h to Copy Bundle Resources.
  4. Add #import "binding.h" to Runner-Bridging-Header.
  5. Last but not least, add a never-to-be-executed dummy function in Swift that calls any of the generated C bindings. This lib has already generated a dummy method for you, so you simply need to add print("dummy_value=\(dummy_method_to_enforce_bundling())"); to swift file's override func application(...) {}, and this will prevent symbol stripping - especially in the release build for iOS (i.e. when building ipa file or releasing to App Store). Notice that, we have to use that dummy_method_to_enforce_bundling(), otherwise the symbols will not maintain in the release build, and Flutter will complain it cannot find the symbols.

Step 5​

Lastly, in order to build the Rust library automatically when you are building Flutter, follow this tutorial.