Mono for Android 4 0 Introduction

An Introduction to
Mono for Android 4.0
Cross-Platform Mobile App Development
Targeting Android

http://xamarin.com/

Introducing Mono for Android 4.0 from
Xamarin
1. Who is Xamarin?
2. MonoTouch and Mono for Android Overview
3. Mono for Android 4.0
4. Differentiators
5. Customers & Case Studies
6. Summing Up

More Info: http://xamarin.com/

Copyright 2012 © Xamarin Inc., All rights reserved

Xamarin Company Snapshot
 Founded in 2011 with the mission to make it fast, easy and fun to build great mobile
apps.
 Xamarin’s products:
 MonoTouch, Mono for Android
 Simplify creation, maintenance and operation of high-performance, cross-platform,
native UX mobile applications
 Phones, tablets and embedded devices - iOS, Android and Windows
 Xamarin stewards the Mono project: open source, cross-platform implementation of
C# / .NET framework
 Unique, customer-proven technology:
 500 developers download/day on average
 Enterprise: 3M, Medtronic, Target, TIBCO, etc.
 Consumer: AOL, iCircuit, Monster, Rdio, etc.
 Consultants / SIs: Accenture, ITR Mobility, etc.


MONOTOUCH AND MONO FOR
ANDROID

MonoTouch and Mono for Android


Native API Access - Android
4,000 C# classes
 1:1 mapping to native
 Java libraries User Code
 OpenGL
 Android C Libraries C# Android.* OpenTK System.*
Projected into C#
 Strongly typed
OpenGL
 Enumerations Java
Android.*
C
Libraries
and Unix APIs
OpenAL
 C# Events/Properties
 Surface Lambdas


Native API Access - iOS
1,700 C# classes
 1:1 mapping to native
 Objective-C libraries User Code
 CoreFoundation
 iOS C libraries MonoTouch.* OpenTK System.*
Projected into C#
 Strongly typed
OpenGL
 C# Events/Properties ObjC
Libraries
C
Libraries
and Unix APIs
OpenAL
 Surface Lambdas


Mono on Mobile
C# and .NET class libraries on Mobile Devices
 Garbage Collection
 Strongly typed objects
 High performance

Strong Typing:
 Code-Completion helps explore APIs from the IDE
 Alerts developer of errors during compilation,
instead of failing for users at run time


Xamarin.* APIs

Xamarin Mobile

Notifications
GeoLocation

Reporting
Photos +
Contacts

Audio
Video

Crash
 Most of the differentiation happens in the UI
 Some platform APIs do not bring much value (sometimes they’re not great APIs)
 Xamarin.Mobile is an extra layer to isolate developers from the platform.


Xamarin Cross-Platform Apps


Apps Showcase: http://xamarin.com/apps


Mono for Android 4.0 – Key Features
Ice Cream Sandwich
features support
Faster builds
Smaller app footprints
Google Maps integration
Visual Studio integration
Faster Installer than with
Java


Mono for Android 4.0 – ICS Features
 Updated User Interface
– GridLayout – Supports 2D grid layout of
controls
– Switch widget – Allows toggling between ON
or OFF
– TextureView – Enables video and OpenGL
content within a view
– Navigation Bar – Contains virtual buttons for
back, home, and multi-tasking
 Better Hardware Acceleration
– 2D rendering now takes place on the GPU for
all Android controls. Additionally, hardware
acceleration is on, by default, in all
applications developed for Android 4.0.

 More
Infohttp://docs.xamarin.com/android/tutorials/Intro
duction_to_Ice_Cream_Sandwich

Mono for Android 4.0 – ICS Features
 New Data APIs
– New access to data that was not previously
officially accessible, such as calendar data and
the user profile of the device owner.
 App Data Sharing
– Sharing data between applications and
devices now easier
• ShareActionProvider: makes it easy to create a
sharing action from an Action Bar
• Android Beam for Near Field Communications
(NFC): makes it a snap to share data across
devices in close proximity to each other

 More
Infohttp://docs.xamarin.com/android/tutorials/Intro
duction_to_Ice_Cream_Sandwich


Mono for Android 4.0 – Faster Builds
Builds are 40% faster
– Less time waiting
– More time creating awesome
apps

 More Info: Introduction to ICS with Mono for Android 4.0 Documentation-
http://docs.xamarin.com/android/tutorials/Introduction_to_Ice_Cream_Sandwi
ch


Mono for Android 4.0 – Smaller App
Footprint
 Executables up to 70% smaller
– App users spend less time downloading

 Efficient Linking Process
– Examines your app and, during Base Class
Library (BCL) assemblies, removes any
components that are not directly used
• For example, a whole namespace in System.dll is
for sending and receiving email, but if your
application does not use of this functionality, that
code is just wasting space, and removed.

 Efficient package deployment during debug
and release stages of development

 More Info:
http://docs.xamarin.com/android/tutorials/Application_Package_Sizes


Mono for Android 4.0 – Google Maps
Integration
Newly Bound Google Maps
APIs
– Mono.Android.GoogleMaps.dll
assembly allows use of the
Google Maps API from C#

ch


Mono for Android 4.0 – Visual Studio
Integration
Mono for Android works with
Visual Studio
– You don’t have to change IDE
– Or use Xamarin full-featured
MonoDevelop IDE

ch


Mono for Android 4.0 – Easier, Faster
Installer
 Mono for Android installer will have you up
and running with just a few clicks

 Takes the pain out of setting up an Android
development environment
– Combines all the required components into a
single, unified installation experience, as
opposed to the myriad of installs required for
Java-based Android development

ch


Mono for Android – Additional
Capabilities
 Hundreds of customer requested
enhancements that make it
easier to develop great Android
apps

 A full listing of new features and
capabilities can be viewed from
here: http://blog.xamarin.com/


MONO FOR ANDROID
DIFFERENTIATORS

Differentiators
Harness the full power of
C# and .NET.
Use Visual Studio to create
Android apps
Write shorter, simpler, and
more maintainable code
Use features like LINQ,
anonymous types,
lambdas and more


Xamarin Customers
600+ new developers each day
Amazing apps: http://xamarin.com/apps


Xamarin Customers
Rdio - Listen to millions of
songs ad-free, mobile

 Problem:
 Supporting 4 platforms
required 4
codebases, adding
features 4 times, chasing
bugs 4 times
 Solution: Xamarin cross-
platform mobile app
development software
“We’ve saved thousands of hours
of engineering.”
Todd Berman
VP Engineering © Xamarin Inc., All rights reserved
Copyright 2012

Xamarin Customers

Medtronic
mStar Application

 Integrate to back-end systems
 Sales orders
 Product registration

“The mStar application automates
manual processes and makes them
available 24/7 for the reps”
Jeff Bipes,
IT Manager, Field Services


Xamarin Customers
RESCO - Mobile CRM for
Microsoft Dynamics
 Fully customizable mobile CRM
client
 Synchronized with Microsoft
Dynamics CRM
 For iPhone, iPad, Android Phone
& Tablet, Windows Mobile,
Windows Phone, Win CE

“Our sale reps preferred to access
their CRM from their tablets instead
of standard desktop clients.”
Eric Labashosky Director of
Application Architecture, Benco


http://xamarin.com/

SUMMING UP

Xamarin & Mono for Android -
Summing Up
 Harness the full power of C# and .NET, Web
Services, JSON, Classes, LINQ and XML for cross-
platform mobile app development
 Use Visual Studio to create powerful Android apps
 Re-use your existing .NET code / logic
 Reduce development time, complexity and cost
 Write shorter, simpler, and more maintainable
code
 Build native user-experiences users expect

Xamarin & Mono for Android 4.0 -
Summing Up
 Leading mobile app development technology
 500+ new developers each day

 Solving cross-platform mobile app development problems
for customers
 Reduce development time, complexity and cost
 Improve mobile app quality, stability and performance

 Unique, customer-proven technology and capabilities
 C# and .NET mobile app development for phones, tablets and
embedded devices running, iOS, Android and Windows


More online
• xamarin.com/apps
• xamarin.com/monotouch
• xamarin.com/android
• docs.xamarin.com
• blog.xamarin.com
• youtube.com/xamarinhq
• twitter.com/xamarinhq
• linkedin.com/company/xamarin
• stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/mono

Mono for Android 4 0 Introduction

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