Chapter 2 · Practice 4 of 5

Prefer a `StatelessWidget` over a helper function that returns widgets

Why it matters

It is tempting to break build() into methods like _buildHeader(). The Flutter docs recommend the opposite: to create reusable pieces of UI, prefer a StatelessWidget rather than a function.

A widget class gets things a function does not:

its own BuildContext, so Theme.of and MediaQuery lookups are scoped correctly,
the ability to be const and skipped on rebuild,
its own entry in the widget inspector, which makes debugging easier.

A small private method for a trivial bit of layout is fine. Once it has parameters, conditions or its own look, make it a widget.

Turn any reused or parameterized _buildX() method into a widget class

Avoid

Large _buildSomething() methods that read context from the parent