Dart: How to pass a function into a function (using a Function as a method parameter)

If you’re interested in Dart/Flutter programming, here’s a little example of how to pass a Dart function into another function or method. The solution is basically a three-step process.

Step 1: Define a Dart method that takes a function parameter

First, define a Dart method that takes a function as a parameter, such as this exec method:

// 1 - define a method that takes a function
void exec(int i, Function f) {
    print(f(i));
}

That example take an int parameter as well as a Dart Function parameter. Then it applies the function f to the integer i, and prints the result.

Step 2: Create one or more functions to pass into that function parameter

Next, create one or more functions that you can pass into the exec method:

// 2 - define a function to pass in
int plusOne(int i) => i + 1;
int double(int i) => i * i;

Step 3: Pass the functions into the method

Finally, pass those functions into the exec method:

// 3 - pass the functions into the method
exec(10, plusOne);
exec(10, double);

The output of that code is:

11
100

You can also pass lambda expressions into function parameters

Note that in addition to passing functions into functions, you can also pass lambda expressions into methods that have function parameters. These two examples also print out 11 and 100:

// 4 - note that you can also pass in lambda expressions
exec(10, (x) => x + 1);  //plusOne
exec(10, (x) => x * x);  //double

Summary

In summary, if you wanted to see how to write a Dart method that takes a function parameter, I hope these examples are helpful.