# Overview

In Dart, we use the **`late` keyword** to declare variables that will be initialized later. These are called non-nullable variables as they are initialized after the declaration. Hence, we use the `late` keyword. 

> **Note**: Once we declare a non-nullable `late` variable, the variable can't be null at runtime.

## Syntax
```
late data_type variable_name;
```


## Code

The following code shows how to implement the `late` keyword in Dart:


// create class Person
class Person {
  late String name;
}

void main() {
    Person person = Person();
    person.name = "Maria Elijah";

    print(person.name);
}

Late keyword

## Explanation

Here is a line-by-line explanation of the above code:
- Line 3–5: We create a class `Person` with a property `name` of `String` type. The variable `name` is marked with the `late` keyword which means that it will be initialized later in the program.

- Line 7–12: We create the `main()` function. Within the `main()`:
  - Line 8: We create an instance of class `Person` named `person`.
  - Line 9: We assign value to variable `name` using the class's instance `person`.
  - Line 11: We display the result.

mydockerfile.tar.gz

What is the late keyword in Dart?

Used in Dart to declare non-nullable variables for later initialization without being null at runtime.