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how's Dart for back end development? is anybody using it to build APIs? the syntax doesn't look too bad

wstrange 2mo ago
Try out serverpod. Not affiliated with them- it's just a super nice integrated Dart backend: https://serverpod.dev/ https://serverpod.dev/
sgt 2mo ago
I've been using Dart and Flutter for years, but I've never ever met anyone who's seriously using Dart for backend. That would be a very niche thing and not popular with teams.
flexagoon 2mo ago
I have user Dart for small personal projects and it's a great language. Somewhat similar to Kotlin, but IMO a bit nicer. Unfortunately the ecosystem is not as developed outside of Flutter as with more popular languages, but it very much exists and pretty nice to use.
0rzech 2mo ago
While the server side is still growing and obviously not as huge as Java etc., Dart definitely is being used on the backend. For instance, https://pub.dev/ https://pub.dev/ itself is written in Dart: https://github.com/dart-lang/pub-dev https://github.com/dart-lang/pub-dev . :) The language, like any other, does have some weaker parts, but in general is _very_ nice to write in - thanks to both the language itself and the toolchain built around it. The apps compile to native binaries for production and are run in Dart VM during development. The SDK is multi purpose. You can write "scripts", you can write CLI apps, servers and with Flutter - the rest of them.
- brabel 2mo ago
  For production you may consider using dart VM also since it benefits from AOT and can actually be faster than a binary after it gets hot, similar to Java.
  - 0rzech 2mo ago
    Correct. At the cost of using more RAM, of course.
  - mraleph 2mo ago
    No, we (Dart team) recommend to deploy everything in AOT mode. JIT mode is only for development, and its performance has not been a priority for a while now.
    - brabel 2mo ago
      Wow thanks for letting me know. Sorry for misreporting, it is true in Java but I didn’t double check for Dart, my bad.
kdot 2mo ago
I’m currently using it for small projects (under 100 users each), it’s definitely a niche choice, but it’s super easy to hand-roll from scratch. I’ve been running an app stack that’s pure dart, top to bottom, and it’s great being able to share code between my flutter app, web app, and backend.

Try out serverpod. Not affiliated with them- it's just a super nice integrated Dart backend: https://serverpod.dev/ https://serverpod.dev/

sgt 2mo ago

I've been using Dart and Flutter for years, but I've never ever met anyone who's seriously using Dart for backend. That would be a very niche thing and not popular with teams.

flexagoon 2mo ago

I have user Dart for small personal projects and it's a great language. Somewhat similar to Kotlin, but IMO a bit nicer. Unfortunately the ecosystem is not as developed outside of Flutter as with more popular languages, but it very much exists and pretty nice to use.

0rzech 2mo ago

While the server side is still growing and obviously not as huge as Java etc., Dart definitely is being used on the backend. For instance, https://pub.dev/ https://pub.dev/ itself is written in Dart: https://github.com/dart-lang/pub-dev https://github.com/dart-lang/pub-dev . :) The language, like any other, does have some weaker parts, but in general is _very_ nice to write in - thanks to both the language itself and the toolchain built around it. The apps compile to native binaries for production and are run in Dart VM during development. The SDK is multi purpose. You can write "scripts", you can write CLI apps, servers and with Flutter - the rest of them.

brabel 2mo ago
For production you may consider using dart VM also since it benefits from AOT and can actually be faster than a binary after it gets hot, similar to Java.
- 0rzech 2mo ago
  Correct. At the cost of using more RAM, of course.
- mraleph 2mo ago
  No, we (Dart team) recommend to deploy everything in AOT mode. JIT mode is only for development, and its performance has not been a priority for a while now.
  - brabel 2mo ago
    Wow thanks for letting me know. Sorry for misreporting, it is true in Java but I didn’t double check for Dart, my bad.

kdot 2mo ago

I’m currently using it for small projects (under 100 users each), it’s definitely a niche choice, but it’s super easy to hand-roll from scratch. I’ve been running an app stack that’s pure dart, top to bottom, and it’s great being able to share code between my flutter app, web app, and backend.