Difference between "var" and "dynamic" type in Dart?

dynamic is a type underlying all Dart objects. You shouldn't need to explicitly use it in most cases.

var is a keyword, meaning "I don't care to notate what the type is here." Dart will replace the var keyword with the initializer type, or leave it dynamic by default if there is no initializer.

Use var if you expect a variable assignment to change during its lifetime:

var msg = "Hello world.";
msg = "Hello world again.";

Use final if you expect a variable assignment to remain the same during its lifetime:

final msg = "Hello world.";

Using final (liberally) will help you catch situations where you accidentally change the assignment of a variable when you didn't mean to.

Note that there is a fine distinction between final and const when it comes to objects. final does not necessarily make the object itself immutable, whereas const does:

// can add/remove from this list, but cannot assign a new list to fruit.
final fruit = ["apple", "pear", "orange"];
fruit.add("grape");

// cannot mutate the list or assign a new list to cars.
final cars = const ["Honda", "Toyota", "Ford"];

// const requires a constant assignment, whereas final will accept both:
const names = const ["John", "Jane", "Jack"];

dynamic: can change TYPE of the variable, & can change VALUE of the variable later in code.

var: can't change TYPE of the variable, but can change VALUE of the variable later in code.

final: can't change TYPE of the variable, & can't change VALUE of the variable later in code.

dynamic v = 123;   // v is of type int.
v = 456;           // changing value of v from 123 to 456.
v = 'abc';         // changing type of v from int to String.

var v = 123;       // v is of type int.
v = 456;           // changing value of v from 123 to 456.
v = 'abc';         // ERROR: can't change type of v from int to String.

final v = 123;       // v is of type int.
v = 456;           // ERROR: can't change value of v from 123 to 456.
v = 'abc';         // ERROR: can't change type of v from int to String.

var, like final, is used to declare a variable. It is not a type at all.

Dart is smart enough to know the exact type in most situations. For example, the following two statements are equivalent:

String a = "abc"; // type of variable is String
var a = "abc";    // a simple and equivalent (and also recommended) way
                  // to declare a variable for string types

On the other hand, dynamic is a special type indicating it can be any type (aka class). For example, by casting an object to dynamic, you can invoke any method (assuming there is one).

(foo as dynamic).whatever(); //valid. compiler won't check if whatever() exists
(foo as var).whatever(); //illegal. var is not a type

try this in DartPad:

void main() {
  dynamic x = 'hal';
  x = 123;
  print(x);
  var a = 'hal';
  a = 123;
  print(a);
}

you can change the type of x, but not a.