drip_flutter 0.5.0-alpha

Flutter render layer for DRIP — direct RenderObject binding with zero widget rebuilds.

drip_flutter

Flutter render layer for the DRIP framework.

Provides direct RenderObject bindings that update the UI with zero widget rebuilds, a scoped business-logic architecture via DripNode, and a high-performance reactive list via DripList.

⚠️ Early Alpha: APIs are stable within the alpha series but subject to change before v1.0.0.

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Features

• Zero Rebuilds — State changes call markNeedsPaint() / markNeedsLayout() directly on RenderObjects, bypassing the Widget → Element → RenderObject traversal entirely.
• Reactive Builder Widgets — Scoped, optimized builders (DripBuilder, DripSelect, DripAsyncBuilder) for complex UI updates when rebuilding widgets is necessary.
• DripReadable<T> binding — All render widgets accept both DripState<T> and DripComputed<T> via the shared DripReadable<T> interface.
• DripNode architecture — Scoped, injectable, lifecycle-aware business logic modules.
• DripList granularity — Updating item i in a 10,000-item list rebuilds exactly 1 tile.

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Render Widgets

Widget	Bound Property	RenderObject call
DripText	DripValue<String>	markNeedsLayout()
DripOpacity	DripValue<double>	markNeedsPaint()
DripColor	DripValue<Color>	markNeedsPaint()
DripTransform	DripValue<Matrix4>	markNeedsPaint()
DripImage	DripValue<ImageProvider>	async image resolution
DripCustomBinding<T>	any	developer-defined

Builder Widgets

When you need to rebuild a subtree conditionally or construct new widgets, use DRIP's reactive builders:

Widget	Purpose
DripBuilder<T>	Rebuilds its subtree whenever the bound DripReadable<T> changes.
DripSelect	Combines multiple sources via an internal DripComputed and rebuilds only when the evaluated combination changes.
DripAsyncBuilder<T>	Handles exhaustive sealed-class state rendering for DripAsync<T> (loading, data, error), automatically passing previousData to handlers.

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Usage

1. Zero-rebuild UI

import 'package:drip_flutter/drip_flutter.dart';

final label = dripState('Hello');
final opacity = DripComputed(() => label.value.isEmpty ? 0.0 : 1.0);

// In build() — no setState ever:
Column(children: [
  DripText(label, style: TextStyle(fontSize: 24)),
  DripOpacity(opacity: opacity, child: Text('visible!')),
])

// Anywhere in business logic:
label.write('World'); // → 0 widget builds

2. Business logic with DripNode

class CounterNode extends DripNode {
  late final DripState<int> count;
  late final DripComputed<String> displayText;
  late final DripComputed<double> opacity;

  @override
  void onInit() {
    count = state(0);
    displayText = computed(() => count.value.toString());
    opacity = computed(() => count.value == 0 ? 0.4 : 1.0);
  }

  void increment() => count.write(count.value + 1);
  void decrement() => count.write(count.value - 1);
}

Provide and consume:

DripNodeProvider<CounterNode>(
  create: () => CounterNode(),
  builder: (context, node) => Column(children: [
    DripText(node.displayText),
    DripOpacity(opacity: node.opacity, child: ElevatedButton(
      onPressed: node.increment,
      child: Icon(Icons.add),
    )),
  ]),
)

// From a descendant widget:
final node = context.node<CounterNode>();

3. High-performance reactive list

final items = DripList<String>(['a', 'b', 'c']);

DripListView<String>(
  list: items,
  tileBuilder: (context, index, item) => Text(item),
)

// Update one item — rebuilds exactly 1 tile:
items[1] = 'B';

// Structural changes — rebuilds the list frame only:
items.add('d');

4. Route-scoped nodes

class ProfileNode extends DripRouteNode {
  @override
  void onRouteEnter() => fetchProfile();

  @override
  void onRouteLeave() => cancelRequests();
}

// Register route observer in your MaterialApp:
final observer = DripRouteObserver();
MaterialApp(navigatorObservers: [observer]);

// Wrap route content:
DripRouteNode.wrap<ProfileNode>(
  observer: observer,
  create: () => ProfileNode(),
  builder: (context, node) => ProfileScreen(),
)

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Architecture Invariants

1. Zero setState(): No setState() calls exist in the binding code path. DripFrame is the sole intentional exception, explicitly documented.
2. Binding Lifecycle: All bindings are synchronously deregistered in didUnmountRenderObject — zero subscriber leaks.
3. Context Correctness: DripNodeProvider wraps the builder child in a Builder, ensuring context.node<N>() resolves from a context below the InheritedWidget.

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Benchmarking

Run the demo_grid app in profile mode to observe the zero-rebuild guarantee:

cd apps/demo_grid
flutter run --profile

Open Flutter DevTools → Performance → Track Widget Builds: 1,000 DripText cells update every 16 ms — widget build count stays at 0.

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Installation

dependencies:
  drip_flutter: ^0.5.0-alpha

Requires Flutter >=3.27.0.

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Part of the DRIP Framework.