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Cross-Platform Mobile Development With Xamarin

This document provides an overview of cross-platform mobile development with Xamarin. It discusses the mobile development landscape and options for cross-platform development. It then focuses on the Xamarin development platform, how to share code across platforms using shared projects, portable class libraries, and .NET Standard libraries. It also covers the Xamarin.Forms cross-platform UI toolkit and how it allows defining user interfaces in a shared codebase that renders native mobile controls.

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68 views

Cross-Platform Mobile Development With Xamarin

This document provides an overview of cross-platform mobile development with Xamarin. It discusses the mobile development landscape and options for cross-platform development. It then focuses on the Xamarin development platform, how to share code across platforms using shared projects, portable class libraries, and .NET Standard libraries. It also covers the Xamarin.Forms cross-platform UI toolkit and how it allows defining user interfaces in a shared codebase that renders native mobile controls.

Uploaded by

Lâm Trần
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Cross-Platform Mobile

Development with Xamarin


Wintellect Core Services

Consulting
Custom software application development and architecture

Instructor Led Training


Microsoft’s #1 training vendor for DevDiv for 14 years

On-Demand Training
World class, subscription based online training
Xamarin 2-Day Virtual Course

 April 11 – 12
 Go to wintellect.com and click [ Training > Public
Schedule ] from the menu
Agenda

 Mobile Landscape and Development Options


 Xamarin Development Platform
 Xamarin Application Architectural Options
 Building Shared Application Components
 Q&A
GitHub

 github.com/classroomCode/xamarinWebinar
Mobile Landscape
Mobile Landscape
Native Android Development

 Language
 Java
 Development Tool
 Android Studio
Native iOS Development

 Languages
 Swift
 Objective-C
 Development Tools
 Xcode
 AppCode (JetBrains)
UWP Development

 Languages
 C#, VB, C++, JavaScript
 Development Tools
 Visual Studio
Cross-Platform Development

 Web application
 Hybrid HTML-based cross-platform frameworks
 Apache Cordova / Adobe PhoneGap
 Native cross-platform frameworks
 Xamarin (C#)
 React Native (JavaScript)
 Appcelerator Titanium (JavaScript)
 Qt (C++)
Cross-Platform Development (Pros)

 Ability to more easily reuse code for multiple platforms


 Leverage existing language/framework knowledge
Cross-Platform Development (Cons)

 GUI components may still need to be coded multiple


times to obtain a platform-specific look and feel
 Different platform design guidelines
 May not have access to all native functionality
 New native features may not be available right away
 Performance and offline functionality
Xamarin Development Platform

 Xamarin founded in 2011


 Took over stewardship of Mono
 Released Xamarin Studio in 2013
 Acquired by Microsoft in 2016
Xamarin Platform Components

 Xamarin platform
 Makes it possible to build native Android, iOS, macOS, and
Windows applications with C# (and F#)

 Xamarin.Forms
 Cross-Platform UI toolkit

 Xamarin Studio
 Transitioning to Visual Studio and Visual Studio for Mac

 Xamarin Test Cloud


Xamarin on iOS

 Xamarin.iOS exposes Apple's Cocoa Touch frameworks


as namespaces you can reference from C#

 Apple does not allow runtime code generation on iOS


 C# is ahead-of-time (AOT) compiled to ARM assembly
language

 Framework components are embedded into your


application

 Apple's tools are required to run an iOS application


Xamarin on Android

 Xamarin.Android exposes Google's Android SDK as


namespaces you can reference from C#

 Android does not have the code generation limitations


as iOS

 C# is compiled to IL and packaged with the Mono


runtime

 Interactions with native types are accomplished via JNI


Xamarin on Windows

 C# is compiled to IL and uses the built-in runtime


 UWP has a .NET Native option which is similar to the
AOT compilation used for iOS
Sharing Code

 "Business logic, database usage, network access, and


other common functions can be written once and re-
used on each platform, providing a foundation for
platform-specific user interfaces that look and perform
as native applications." - Xamarin Documentation
Sharing Code

 To share code across native projects, you can use a …


 Shared project
 Portable class library (PCL)
 .NET Standard library
 PCLs are being phased out in favor of .NET Standard
libraries
Shared Projects

 Code within a shared project is copied and compiled


into each platform-specific application
Shared Projects

 Different techniques can be used to handle platform-


specific functionality when using a shard project
 Conditional compilation
 Class mirroring
 Partial classes and methods
Conditional Compilation

 Each platform-specific project can define compile-time


symbols
 Can be used to specify if which code should be
included
Conditional Compilation

public static string DatabaseFile
{
get {
var filename = "data.db";
#if __IOS__
var docPath = Environment.GetFolderPath(SpecialFolder.Person);
var path = Path.Combine(docPath, "..", "Library", filename);
#elif __ANDROID__
var path = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(
Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal, filename));
#endif
return path;
}
}
Partial Classes and Methods

 By using the partial class feature of .NET, part of a class


can be defined in the shared project with another part
of the class defined in each platform-specific project

 Partial methods can also be used to achieve something


similar to the template method design pattern
Portable Class Library (PCL)

 When creating a PCL project, you select


a profile that specifies the target
platforms

 The set of .NET APIs available to use is an


intersection of what is supported on
each platform

 Many NuGet packages are distributed as


PCLs
Portable Class Library (PCL)

 It is a common practice to use dependency injection


when sharing code via a PCL
 Define an interface within the PCL
 Code to that interface within the PCL
 Each platform-specific project can provide the PCL with
an object that implements the required interface
.NET Standard Library

 PCLs are being replaced by libraries that target .NET


Standard

 .NET Standard is a set of APIs that all .NET platforms


have to implement

 Unifies the .NET platform and prevents future


fragmentation
.NET Standard
.NET Standard
.NET Standard
Xamarin.Forms

 Xamarin.Forms is a cross-platform UI framework


 Separate platform-specific projects are still required but
the UI can now be defined in a single shared project

 Provides a library of common controls that create native


controls at runtime

 Supports the use of XAML for defining the UI


 Implementation of the same standard used by WPF
Xamarin.Forms

 Xamarin.Forms project contains a single instance of a


class that inherits from a class named Application
 Provides lifecycle and navigation events
 Application object created by the platform-specific
project
 iOS: FinishedLaunching method in AppDelegate.cs
 Android: OnCreate method in MainActivity.cs
 Windows: OnLaunched method in App.xaml.cs
Xamarin.Forms

 The UI of a Xamarin.Forms-based application consists of


a collection of pages

 MainPage property of the Application object determines


the first page to be displayed

 Several different subclasses of the Page class exist


 ContentPage, NavigationPage, TabbedPage,
MasterDetailPage, CarouselPage
Xamarin.Forms

 Content pages contain views


 View can be a control or contain other controls
 Each control has a renderer that produces the
appropriate native control at runtime
Xamarin.Forms

 The Device class can be used to execute different code


or provide a different value at runtime based on the
underlying platform
Device.OnPlatform(
iOS: () => { ... },
Android: () => { ... },
WinPhone: () => { ... },
Default: () => { ... });
var greeting = Device.OnPlatform<string>(
iOS: "Hi", Android: "Yo", WinPhone: "Hello");
new Thickness(5, Device.OnPlatform(20, 0, 0), 5, 5);
Xamarin.Forms

 Device.OnPlatform can also be used in XAML


<StackLayout.BackgroundColor>
<OnPlatform x:TypeArguments="Color"
iOS="Silver"
Android="Green"
WinPhone="Blue" />
</StackLayout.BackgroundColor>
Conclusion

 Recording of this webinar


 github.com/classroomCode/xamarinWebinar
 Two-day instructor-led training (April 10-12)
[email protected]

Q&A

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