What is Hot Restart in Flutter?
Why Interviewers Ask This
This question tests conceptual clarity. Interviewers want to hear a precise, confident definition before moving to more complex Flutter topics. It also reveals how well you can explain technical ideas to non-experts.
Answer
Hot Restart fully re-runs the Flutter application from scratch. Unlike Hot Reload, it discards the current Dart state, re-initializes all objects and variables, and rebuilds the widget tree from the beginning. It is slower than Hot Reload but necessary when you make changes to initialization logic, global state, or native code. Hot Restart is triggered with R (capital) in the terminal.
Pro Tip
If you're unsure about a detail, say so honestly and explain your reasoning. Interviewers respect candidates who can think through uncertainty rather than bluffing.