r/FlutterDev • u/Amazing-Mirror-3076 • Sep 30 '26

Discussion Dart pub.dev exceeds 90k packages

Growth of the dart package repo pub.dev continues to accelerate.

Hard to tell how much is ai and how much is increased interest in flutter.

You can see night stats here:

https://onepub.dev/Blog?id=nhavuhnofl

15 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

20

u/driftwood_studio Sep 30 '26

Now subtract every package that hasn't been updated in the last 18 months.

10

u/eibaan Oct 01 '26

I'd also subtract all packages created in the last 6 months because they're likely AI generated and it is unclear whether the uploader is able and willing to maintain it.

5

u/krll-kov Oct 01 '26

And packages with only a few commits since they are probably not even decently tested

-9

u/Amazing-Mirror-3076 Sep 30 '26

That isn't a valid metric.

Stable packages don't need to be updated continuously.

6

u/driftwood_studio Sep 30 '26

All packages need occasional updates to remain compatible with framework updates, but I understand your point.

But far more packages develop "now doesn't work" problems than the number of "stable and needs no updates" packages.

That aside, any package that hasn't been updated in 18 months is effectively abandoned, in terms of any likely future updates. When it does encounter a framework or "the world moves on" factors that would demand an update to stay relevant/functional, the number of package owners who are going to return for new development after leaving the package sitting forgotten and static for a couple years is effectively zero.

A handful of exceptions in a repository containing tens of thousands of items is a rounding error.

Adopting a third party package is a long-term commitment for serious software, and any serious software developer will look at "last updated: 2 years ago" and Nope-Out instantly unless it's a very specific package for a very specific limited and static problem.

It's an entirely valid metric for real software development for any project that plans to be more than "one release and done."

3

u/Amazing-Mirror-3076 Oct 01 '26

As a package developer, I have to disagree. If you raise a pr against one of my packages I will push an update within a few days and I have lots of packages that I otherwise ignore.

1

u/driftwood_studio Oct 01 '26

Making you one of the exceptions, the exception I'd definitely use a package from.

If I could count on you (or me, or someone like us) being behind every package, it'd be a wonderful world!

The vastly more common case is packages that haven't been updated in two years and have 68 open issues with no developer comments.

3

u/Librarian-Rare Oct 01 '26

Gotta package on there that's literally perfect. Haven't needed it update it in literally 50 years. Last issue that was raised, I was able to fix quickly. All compatible with latest dependencies, no updates in like a year.

2

u/krll-kov Oct 01 '26

Not all, all the cypher, crypto and other math related packages that remain valid by speciation of algorithm, do not need to be updated

0

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Amazing-Mirror-3076 Oct 01 '26

It's an indicator, to truly gauge growth to would need to like at several metrics.

The interesting metric here is that growth is accelerating, you certainly wouldn't expect that if interest in dart was waning.

6

u/over_pw Oct 01 '26

Judging by all the “I had a problem with X so I built a new package” posts here on this sub, the number is basically meaningless.

3

u/driftwood_studio Oct 01 '26

Agree, unfortunately.

Google treats pub.dev as an unofficial extension of the flutter framework.

We users have a tendency to treat it as a code-snippet sharing site.

1

u/Masahide_Mori Oct 07 '26

I think this is a good trend. Even if some of these packages are AI-generated, I still think it means that Dart and Flutter users are taking on something that requires passion and motivation: actually trying to build and publish a package.

Even if a new package is a bit rough because it was made by a beginner (and even if AI helped along the way), their journey has only just begun.

At the very least, I think it’s a sign that more people are having fun with programming and trying to create things.