Introduction to Xamarin at Confoo.ca 2015

1. Native Cross-Platform
Mobile Development
with Xamarin
Freelance Solutions Architect
www.guybarrette.com
Guy Barrette

2. Guy Barrette

3. Mobile
Development
Approaches

4. Silo Approach
Build Apps Multiple Times
• Multiple Teams
• Multiple Code Bases
• Different toolsets

5. Write Once, Run Anywhere: Web Approach
• Build a mobile version of an existing
Web site
• No apps to deploy to the stores

6. Write Once, Run Anywhere: Hybrid Approach
• Use PhoneGap/Cordova with
HTML5
• Basically, a native app with a Web
viewer displaying HTML5 pages
• Native look is simulated with CSS
• Apps are packaged as native apps

7. Xamarin
Approach

8. Xamarin’s Unique Approach
• Native User Interface
• Native Performance
• Shared code across
platforms
• C# & .NET Framework
• Full API Coverage

9. With Xamarin.Forms:
more code-sharing, native controls
Traditional Xamarin approach
Shared UI Code
Xamarin.Forms Unique Approach

10. Xamawhat???

11. First
release of
Xamarin.Mac
Launch
Partner
Program
200,000
Developers
Xamarin
Founded
First release of
Xamarin.Android
Xamarin.iOS
launches (originally
known as
MonoTouch)
Ximian
Founded
Over a Decade of Enterprise Production Use
2001 2003 2009 2011 2012 2013
Mono
Launches
Ximian Acquired
by Novell
Xamarin 2.0
Component Store
Xamarin Test Cloud
Evolve 2013
Microsoft Partnership
500,000
Developers
100+ Partners
100+ Components
2014
//
Xamarin 3
2000
SAP Partnership
Fire TV Support
Salesforce partnership
Visionary in Gartner
Magic Quadrant
Google Glass Support
Visual Studio Partner
of the Year
Android Wear Support
Xamarin Evolve 2014
800,000
Developers
200+ Partners
200+ Components

12. How
Xamarin
Works

13. Write Everything in C#

14. .NET + iOS APIs | 100% Coverage

15. .NET Android APIs | 100% Coverage

16. .NET + Windows APIs

17. Anything you can do in Objective-C, Swift,
or Java can be done in C# with Xamarin

18. Share code across all platforms

19. 60% to 90% code reuse

20. Xamarin.iOS does full Ahead Of
Time (AOT) compilation to produce
an ARM binary for Apple’s App
Store.
Native Performance
Xamarin.Android takes advantage
of Just In Time (JIT) compilation
on the Android device.

21. • 1 Assembly
• Multiple Platforms
• Including:
• Xamarin.Android
• Xamarin.iOS
Portable Class Libraries

22. Distribute Everywhere
A Xamarin app can be distributed everywhere

23. Xamarin Studio
PC or Mac
Visual Studio Plugin
VS 2010 and Higher
Development Environment

24. Cost - Software
Cost per dev and per device
platform:
• iOS
• Android
• Discount for startups and MSDN
subscribers

25. Cost - Hardware
• Android
• Development can be done on Windows or Mac
• iOS
• A Mac is required
• Development can be done on a Windows machine
but compilation MUST be done on a Mac
• Compilation can be done on a networked Mac

26. Cost - Hardware
• Emulators are OK for
development
• But always test on physical
devices

27. Visual Studio Integration
A single solution:
• iOS
• Android
• Windows Phone
• Windows Store
Leverage the entire
Microsoft ecosystem:
• ReSharper
• Team Foundation Server
• Your favorite code coverage
and profiling tools

28. Xamarin Studio
• Optimized for cross-platform
mobile development
• Explore native APIs with code
completion
• World class Android and iOS
designers
• Powerful debugging on
simulator or device

29. Android Designer
• Android designer
• Available in:
• Xamarin Studio
• Visual Studio
• Create UI with drag & drop
simplicity
• Target multiple screen sizes,
resolutions and Android
versions
• Layouts saved in standard
Android XML files

30. iOS Designer
• iOS Designer available in
Xamarin Studio and Visual
Studio
• Follows familiar Visual Studio
designer idioms
• Supports all UIKit elements
• Edit custom and 3rd party
components
• Live preview of changes to
properties

31. Xamarin.Forms

32. With Xamarin.Forms:
more code-sharing, native controls
Traditional Xamarin approach
Shared UI Code
Xamarin + Xamarin.Forms

33.  40+ Pages, Layouts, and Controls
 Build from code behind or XAML
 Two-way Data Binding
 Navigation
 Animation API
 Dependency Service
 Messaging Center
Shared UI Code
What’s Included

34. Use a single API to generate native, platform-
specific user interfaces
At runtime, each Xamarin.Forms page and its
controls are mapped to platform-specific
native user interface elements
Xamarin.Forms Example

35. C# or XAML, No Designer Yet
var red = new Label
{
Text = "Stop",
BackgroundColor = Color.Red,
Font = Font.SystemFontOfSize (20),
WidthRequest = 100
};
var yellow = new Label
{
Text = "Slow down",
BackgroundColor = Color.Yellow,
Font = Font.SystemFontOfSize (20),
WidthRequest = 100
};
var green = new Label
{
Text = "Go",
BackgroundColor = Color.Green,
Font = Font.SystemFontOfSize (20),
WidthRequest = 200
};
Content = new StackLayout
{
Spacing = 10,
VerticalOptions = LayoutOptions.End,
Orientation = StackOrientation.Horizontal,
HorizontalOptions = LayoutOptions.Start,
Children = { red, yellow, green }
};
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
x:Class="HelloXamarinFormsWorldXaml.StackLayoutExample3"
Padding="20">
<StackLayout Spacing="10"
VerticalOptions="End"
Orientation="Horizontal"
HorizontalOptions="Start">
<Label Text="Stop"
BackgroundColor="Red"
Font="20"
WidthRequest="100" />
<Label Text="Slow down"
BackgroundColor="Yellow"
Font="20"
WidthRequest="100" />
<Label Text="Go"
BackgroundColor="Green"
Font="20"
WidthRequest="200" />
</StackLayout>
</ContentPage>

36. Xamarin.Forms Controls

37. Xamarin.Forms = Version 1

38. General rule with V1:
For simpler business apps

39. Demo

40. Conclusion

41. Xamarin benefits
• Xamarin enables developers to reach all major mobile platforms!
– Native User Interface
– Native Performance
– Shared Code Across Platforms
– C# & .NET Framework

43. It depends

44. Is your team more familiar
with HTML/JS or C#?

45. You still need to understand the
intricacies of each platform

46. Thank you

48. Additional Material

49. Tools

50. Always Up-to-Date
Track record of offering
same-day support:
iOS 5, iOS 6, iOS 7, iOS 7.1, iOS 8
Full support for:
• Google Glass
• Android Wear
• Amazon Fire TV
• More!

51. • Xamarin Studio
• VS coming soon
• Supports:
– iOS
– Android
– Mac
– Xamarin.Forms
• developer.xamarin.com/guides/cross-platform/sketches/
Live Coding Environment
Sketches

52. Xamarin Profiler Preview
• Analyze and Polish your C#
Mobile Apps
• iOS, Android, and
Xamarin.Forms
• Windows or Mac
• Xamarin.com/profiler

53. Xamarin Component Store
Build Apps Faster
• Add high quality pre-built
app components directly
from Visual Studio and
Xamarin Studio
• Beautiful cross-platform UI
controls, cloud services and
enterprise backend
integrations are just a few
clicks away

54. Xamarin Android Player
High Speed Android Emulator
• Mac or PC
• Runs side-by-side Windows
Phone Emulator
Free for Xamarin Subscribers:
• Xamarin.com/Android-Player

55. .NET Mobility Scanner
How mobile is your .NET?
• Go to: http://scan.xamarin.com
• Scan .exe or .dll to determine compatibility
• Generates full report:

56. Real-time monitoring. Track crashes and exceptions to
understand what is happening with live users.

57. Automatically test your app on thousands
of real devices in the cloud.

58. • IBM MobileFirst SDK for Xamarin
• IBM MobileFirst Add-Ons for
Xamarin Studio and Visual Studio
• xamarin.com/ibm
IBM Partnership

59. Microsoft and Xamarin Partner Globally
With Xamarin, developers combine all of the
productivity benefits of C#, Visual Studio 2013
and Windows Azure with the flexibility to
quickly build for multiple device targets.”
S. Somasegar, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft