Mason

Code Flutter Faster with Mason

As Flutter projects grow, maintaining consistency and efficiency in your codebase becomes more important than ever. Mason is a powerful tool that optimizes your development process by generating reusable code templates. This guide will help you understand the benefits of Mason, how to set it up, and how to integrate it into your Flutter project.

Why Choose Mason for Your Flutter Project?

Optimize Code Reusability

As your project expands, using standardized code templates becomes essential. Mason allows you to encapsulate best coding practices into reusable templates, saving you time instead of rewriting or copying code. It generates structured code, reducing syntax errors and speeding up development. The tool supports large, customizable templates that can be used across multiple devices.

Enhance Team Collaboration

Different coding styles can lead to inconsistencies in the codebase. Mason helps standardize your team's coding practices by providing a shared template structure, ensuring clean and maintainable code. By using Mason, you can ensure that your code follows a consistent style and structure, making it easier to maintain and scale.

Save Time and Effort

Writing code from scratch is time-consuming. Mason automates this process, allowing you to focus on the more critical aspects of your project.

Setting Up Mason in Your Flutter Project

Installing Mason

To get started, visit the Mason CLI guide for installation instructions. Assume you have set up a directory named mason_core to store Mason templates.

Creating a Mason Template: dr_screen

Step 1: Navigate to the Mason Directory

Navigate to the Mason Directory

Open the terminal and move to the mason_core directory:

cd /path/to/mason_core

Tip:

• In your IDE, select the mason_core folder, press Ctrl/Command + Shift + C, or right-click → Copy Path to quickly copy the directory path.

Step 2: Create a New Template

Run the following command to create a new Mason template named dr_screen in the dart/ directory:

mason new dr_screen -o dart/

Step 3: Declare the Template in mason.yaml

Create a New Template

Add the following entry to the mason.yaml file:

dr_screen:
  path: dart/dr_screen

Step 4: Customize the Template

Customize the Template

Add necessary files to the __brick__ directory. Declare variables in brick.yaml to allow customization:

vars:
  - name

Mason will use these variables to generate code dynamically based on user input. Common Dart naming conventions include:

• HelloWorld → {{name.pascalCase()}}

• hello_world → {{name.snakeCase()}}

• helloWorld → {{name.camelCase()}}

• Hello World → {{name}}

Refer to the Mason CLI documentation for more transformation examples.

Step 5: Update Mason

After setting everything up, run the following command to update Mason:

mason upgrade

Using Mason to Generate Code

Step 1: Navigate to the Mason Directory

cd /path/to/mason_core

Step 2: Generate Code from the Template

Generate Code from the Template

Run the following command to generate code from the dr_screen template:

mason make dr_screen -o /path/to/your/desired/directory

Replace /path/to/your/desired/directory with the path where you want the code to be generated.

Setting Up Mason in a New Project

Mason can be used anywhere on your machine. If you want to move the mason_core directory to another project or reinstall it on a new machine, follow these steps:

Step 1: Install Mason

Skip this step if Mason is already installed:

dart pub global activate mason_cli

Step 2: Navigate to the Mason Directory

cd /path/to/mason_core

Step 3: Update Mason

mason upgrade -g

Disabling Dart Analysis for Mason

Disabling Dart Analysis for Mason

When adding Mason to a project, Dart Analysis may flag syntax issues in mason_core. To disable these warnings, follow these steps:

Step 1: Update analysis_options.yaml

Add the following lines to your analysis_options.yaml file:

exclude:
  - packages/core_mason/**

Step 2: Restart Dart Analysis

Restart Dart Analysis

Community Resources

Here are some Mason templates I frequently use. You can explore and use them for free on BrickHub:

• dr_base_model – A base model template for API data
• dr_base_project – A base Flutter project template
• dr_bloc – A BLoC template with common features
• dr_change_notifier – A ChangeNotifier-based template
• dr_clean_arch – A clean architecture template for large projects
• dr_entity – Generates models using json_serializable
• dr_enum – An enum template for complex states
• dr_freezed – Generates models using freezed

Conclusion

By integrating Mason into your Flutter development workflow, you can significantly enhance efficiency and maintain a consistent codebase. This guide provides a complete overview of setting up and using Mason to fully leverage its potential in your projects.

Buy Me a Coffee | Support Me on Ko-fi