When should I use a FutureBuilder?

FutureBuilder is a widget that takes in a Future as an input and returns a widget based on the data received from the Future. The FutureBuilder widget is commonly used in Flutter when you have to wait for a long-running operation to complete before rendering a widget.

Here are some common scenarios where you would use a FutureBuilder:

1. Fetching data from a remote server: You can use a FutureBuilder to wait for data to be fetched from a remote server and then build the UI based on the data received.
2. Loading data from a database: If you’re using a local database in your Flutter app and need to fetch data from it, you can use a FutureBuilder to wait for the data to be loaded and then build the UI based on the data received.
3. Asynchronous computations: If you need to perform a long-running computation and display the result in your UI, you can use a FutureBuilder to wait for the computation to complete and then build the UI based on the result.
4. Loading and displaying images: If you need to load an image from the network and display it in your UI, you can use a FutureBuilder to wait for the image to be loaded and then build the UI based on the image data.

The key advantage of using a FutureBuilder is that it helps you manage the loading and error states in a clean and concise manner. You can specify the widget to be displayed while the Future is waiting to complete and the widget to be displayed if an error occurs. This makes it easier to handle loading and error states in your app and reduces the amount of boilerplate code you need to write.