**Course Title:** Mastering Dart: From Fundamentals to Flutter Development **Section Title:** Working with Collections and Generics **Topic:** Create a Dart application that utilizes collections and demonstrates the use of generics.(Lab topic) **Introduction** In this lab, we will apply our knowledge of Dart collections and generics to build a simple application that demonstrates the use of these concepts. We will create a program that utilizes lists, sets, and maps, and incorporates generics to ensure type safety. **Step 1: Create a New Project** Open your preferred code editor or IDE and create a new Dart project. If you are using Visual Studio Code, you can use the following command in the terminal: ```bash dart create my_collections_app ``` Alternatively, you can use the Dart project template in your IDE. **Step 2: Define the Model Classes** We will create two model classes, `Book` and `Author`, to represent the data that we will store in our collections. Create a new file called `models.dart` and add the following code: ```dart class Author { final String name; final String email; Author({required this.name, required this.email}); @override String toString() { return 'Author: $name, Email: $email'; } } class Book { final String title; final Author author; final double price; Book({required this.title, required this.author, required this.price}); @override String toString() { return 'Book: $title, Author: ${author.name}, Price: \$${price.toStringAsFixed(2)}'; } } ``` **Step 3: Create the Collections** In the `main.dart` file, create lists, sets, and maps to store our `Book` and `Author` objects. We will use generics to specify the type of objects that each collection can hold. ```dart void main() { // Create a list of Book objects List<Book> books = [ Book(title: 'Book 1', author: Author(name: 'Author 1', email: 'author1@example.com'), price: 19.99), Book(title: 'Book 2', author: Author(name: 'Author 2', email: 'author2@example.com'), price: 9.99), Book(title: 'Book 3', author: Author(name: 'Author 1', email: 'author1@example.com'), price: 14.99), ]; // Create a set of unique Author objects Set<Author> authors = { Author(name: 'Author 1', email: 'author1@example.com'), Author(name: 'Author 2', email: 'author2@example.com'), }; // Create a map of Book objects with unique titles Map<String, Book> bookMap = { 'Book 1': books[0], 'Book 2': books[1], 'Book 3': books[2], }; // Print the collections print('Books:'); books.forEach((book) => print(book)); print('\nAuthors:'); authors.forEach((author) => print(author)); print('\nBook Map:'); bookMap.forEach((title, book) => print('$title: $book')); } ``` **Generics in Action** In the code above, we used generics to specify the type of objects that each collection can hold. For example, `List<Book>` ensures that the list can only hold `Book` objects, while `Set<Author>` ensures that the set can only hold `Author` objects. This helps prevent runtime errors and ensures type safety. **Running the Application** To run the application, use the following command in the terminal: ``` dart run ``` This will execute the `main` function and print the contents of the collections to the console. **Conclusion** In this lab, we demonstrated the use of collections and generics in a Dart application. We created lists, sets, and maps to store `Book` and `Author` objects, and used generics to ensure type safety. This is an essential skill for any Dart developer, and is a crucial step in mastering the language. **Additional Resources** * [Dart documentation: Collections](https://api.dart.dev/stable/2.17.6/dart-core/Collections-class.html) * [Dart documentation: Generics](https://dart.dev/guides/language/language-tour#generics) * [Flutter documentation: Working with Data](https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/flutter-for/web-devs#working-with-data) **Leave a comment or ask for help** If you have any questions or need further clarification on any of the concepts covered in this lab, please leave a comment below. I'll do my best to help you understand and apply these concepts in your own projects.