How do I add a plugin to my project?

Adding a plugin to your project is generally surprisingly easy. However, it is crucially important that you read the readme fully because for some plugins, there can be platform-specific configuration that you need to set up before the plugin will run. In some extreme cases (such as google_mobile_ads), your app will completely fail to start unless the plugin setup has been completed correctly.

We will use the example of auto_size_text as a plugin we wish to add. We saw above the readme for this plugin, but let's look at the Installing section now. The following screenshot shows the instructions for installation:

Figure 8.3 – The auto_size_text installation instructions

There are two ways to add a plugin to your project, but the outcome is the same.

The first option is to run a flutter command on the command line to do all the work for you:

flutter pub add auto_size_text

The other option is to replicate...