Native extensions for the standalone Dart VM

The original way for command-line Dart apps to call C/C++ functions.

Note

The extension mechanism that was previously discussed on this page—native extensions—was removed in Dart 2.15.

If you need to call existing code written in C or C++, see the FFI documentation.

A mechanism that's similar to native extensions—the Dart Embedding API—is supported when the Dart VM is embedded as a library into another application. For examples of how to use the Dart Embedding API, see these examples maintained by the community.

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Unless stated otherwise, the documentation on this site reflects Dart 3.11.0. Page last updated on 2025-09-04. View source or report an issue.