Isolates

November 3, 2022

Convert the response into data using isolates

// A function that converts a response body into a List<Photo>.
List<Photo> parsePhotos(String responseBody) {
  final parsed = jsonDecode(responseBody).cast<Map<String, dynamic>>();

  return parsed.map<Photo>((json) => Photo.fromJson(json)).toList();
}

Future<List<Photo>> fetchPhotos(http.Client client) async {
  final response = await client
      .get(Uri.parse('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/photos'));

  // Use the compute function to run parsePhotos in a separate isolate.
  return compute(parsePhotos, response.body);
}

If you run the fetchPhotos() function on a slower device, you might notice the app freezes for a brief moment as it parses and converts the JSON. This is jank, and you want to get rid of it.

You can remove the jank by moving the parsing and conversion to a background isolate using the compute() function provided by Flutter. The compute() function runs expensive functions in a background isolate and returns the result. In this case, run the parsePhotos() function in the background.

Was this helpful?