Software developers often dreamed of writing code only once and using it across various platforms - something that has long been possible, though with potentially negative ramifications for maintainability, testing ease or user experience. Unfortunately, such solutions exist but often come at the price of maintaining multiple copies or poor user experiences.
Experienced developers should begin working on mobile application development using a native SDK as their first step. Some individuals might find the transition difficult; if someone knows Java from backend desktop app development, moving over to an Android mobile application development company and working there should be easier.
As someone accustomed to cross-platform development , I remain wary. JavaScript frameworks like Sencha, Cordova and Titanium tend to lag when performance matters most when selecting frameworks with limited APIs and poor user experiences. My discovery of Xamarin changed everything.
This article will demonstrate how to utilize Xamarin for code sharing across multiple platforms without impacting other aspects of mobile app development. Our focus here will be Android and iOS development; however, similar methods exist for adding support for other platforms available through Xamarin.
Figures Of Mobile Market Penetration
Statistics provide us with an invaluable way of measuring mobile devices' importance today and projecting their relevance into 2022. Take a peek at what the market will look like!
- Statista reports that the number of smartphone owners today exceeds 6 billion people . This is more than 83% of the world's population.
- In 2021, there will be 4,32 billion unique users of mobile internet.
- 56.89% of global web traffic is mobile internet traffic.
- The estimated market share for different mobile operating systems are: iOS -- 27,68%; Samsung, KaiOS and Windows Phone -- less than 1% each. Each of these operating systems has a market share of less than 1%.
- JetBrains' survey revealed that 53% of developers create mobile apps using cross-platform frameworks and technologies.
These numbers demonstrate how mobile solutions have quickly become part of daily life and will have a major effect on all sectors in the coming decades. Mobile app development will, therefore, remain high in demand. Cross-platform mobile development by SaM Solutions gives your organization the benefit of having a strong mobile presence. Cross-platform mobile frameworks have quickly grown increasingly popular as customers find them to provide them with a richer and more flexible user experience.
Now, we will give a complete introduction to Xamarin, an industry-standard cross-platform software development framework.
What Is Xamarin?
Microsoft acquired Xamarin, originally built using Mono, in 2016 and seamlessly integrated it with their.NET Platform.
This open-source framework is widely utilized for developing cross-platform mobile apps. A combination of Xamarin C# and.NET code reuse of 95 percent allows rapid creation and deployment on Android, iOS and Windows mobile platforms. Xamarin was an innovative software developer specializing in Common Language Infrastructure implementations before it was acquired by Microsoft in 2016. Xamarin provides mobile application development capabilities for iOS and Android.
How reliable and effective is Xamarin really? Xamarin products have proven very successful globally, according to statistics released by their creator company. Used by over 15,000 companies and 1.4 million developers from 120 different nations (Bosch, Siemens, and Slack are just some examples), its reliability and effectiveness have become evident when many industry leaders built solutions on it themselves.
Statista has also validated Xamarin's popularity, placing it among the list of frameworks most frequently utilized by software engineers. Flutter and React Native are closely followed, followed by Cordova Ionic React Native, listed before Xamarin in popularity rankings.
Platforms Supported By Xamarin
Currently, Xamarin allows the creation of reusable codes for the following platforms.
- Android
- iOS
- Windows
Windows Phone is not supported by Xamarin 3x
- Linux
- Mac
- Tizen
How Xamarin Works
Code sharing is at the core of Xamarin's work; software developers can write code only once before adapting it for multiple platforms by making small tweaks rather than writing new, platform-specific codes from scratch for Android projects and iOS projects.
.NET serves as the basis for Xamarin, performing functions such as memory allocation and automatic garbage collection.
Xamarin Development Approaches
Two ways to develop cross-platform apps using Xamarin.
- The Xamarin.Forms Technology: Users can create a visual interface, add some C# logic and share their codebase among Android, iOS and Windows with minimal changes necessary. All solutions use one common backend solution, which makes this approach faster and cheaper; however, performance might be affected slightly due to combined usage between all solutions.
- Xamarin Native: These libraries enable developers to develop separate UI apps for each platform - iOS, Android and Mac - using distinct code on each UI layer while still sharing backend components as with Xamarin.Forms solutions. Though more expensive and slower in implementation terms, native app performance remains guaranteed through this approach.
Xamarin Cross-Platform Development Features
- Base class library (BCL): It is a.NET standard library of classes that Xamarin has access to and can use, including serialization, XML networking, etc.
- Visual Studio is an IDE that Xamarin relies on to develop apps. It has essential features like code autocomplete and integrated source control.
- Interoperability with programming languages: Xamarin is able to invoke libraries in C++, Java, Objective-C and C. This greatly expands the code-writing possibilities.
- Xamarin Component store: a collection of third-party free and paid components (services libraries, UI controls).
- Backend Integrations: You can integrate your Xamarin applications with powerful platforms such as SAP, Azure and Parse.
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Xamarin Advantages: Building Cross-Platform Applications
Cross-platform mobile app development has quickly gained in popularity as more businesses discover its many advantages over native development. Why use Xamarin to develop cross-platform solutions for your business? Developers love this tool as it enables them to write code once deployed across platforms without negatively affecting the performance, maintainability or user experience of their apps. Xamarin allows developers to easily build single logic applications using C# or .NET that run seamlessly across three mobile platforms.
Let's dive deeper into why using Xamarin to develop apps across multiple platforms may be best.
1. Single Technological Stack
extremely flexible programming language that enables developers to develop various solutions quickly. No need to switch environments since everything can be done within Visual Studio itself; moreover, using one language rather than two makes learning Xamarin simple and efficient.
2. Native User Experience
Xamarin can access all native APIs, toolkits and platforms of Android, iOS and Windows to provide native design and performance for all apps using it.
C# and Visual Studio achieve native-like capabilities through using platform-specific elements.
- Xamarin.Android & Xamarin.iOS provide.NET developers with complete Android & iOS SDKs.
- Xamarin.Essentials provides access to core overlapping Native APIs.
- Xamarin.Forms exposes a User Interface (UI) Toolkit for all Mobile Platforms.
Create a solution that integrates all the unique features into a central location with platform-specific user interfaces.
3. Shareable Code
Xamarin code is 60-95% reusable, making it an attractive "write once and use everywhere" platform. One codebase can run natively across multiple platforms with only minor adjustments required between platforms.
4. Save time and money .
Shared codebases and technology stacks reduce development cycle times significantly. Once written, written code can be reused across many solutions with just minor adjustments required; you don't waste time repeating processes that you already completed, allowing your product to come to market faster!
Since all development work on an app can be completed in C# with the.NET Framework, only one team should be responsible for development, testing and deployment; this expedites time to market while cutting extra costs and saving costs. Companies with limited hardware and human resources will especially appreciate its advantages.
5. Testing
Xamarin Test Cloud and Recorder provide comprehensive solutions for testing application performance and user interface on real devices before release. You can run automated tests from within Xamarin's Test Cloud platform on real devices to identify performance issues prior to making changes public.
6. Simple Maintenance
Due to sharing code, maintaining apps created using Xamarin.Forms are extremely straightforward. Update apps or resolve issues simply by making updates in one solution's source code, which then applies across all others automatically - saving both money and developer hours!
The Xamarin Community should be recognized for providing comprehensive customer support, comprehensive documentation, and training opportunities for its users.
7. Microsoft Technical Support
Microsoft, one of the premier software firms worldwide, supports this framework with stability, technical assistance, and timely issue resolution.
Microsoft provides developers with numerous educational resources, including self-paced Xamarin courses and technical documents available on its official Microsoft Learn platform. No longer must developers go it alone as their skills progress further, with support available as needed to keep developing themselves further.
Building Cross-Platform Apps With Xamarin: Challenges
Xamarin, like any other software product, is not a good fit for every project. These are some of the challenges you may face when using this cross-platform tool.
1. Heavy Applications
Xamarin solutions typically are twice the size of their native files and require additional adjustments due to using core libraries and functionality; some projects may need several megabytes more for development.
2. No Complex Graphics
Creating captivating applications using Xamarin isn't easy and may involve complex graphics or animation. Therefore, this platform may not be an optimal option when developing apps requiring advanced visualization, such as games.
But nothing is impossible; with its open-source platform, developers have the capability of developing additional plugins and APIs to expand capabilities or add entirely new functionalities.
3. Update Lag
Xamarin cannot immediately utilize updates released for Android, iOS and Windows platforms; rather, they need time to integrate all new features seamlessly within their ecosystem - potentially delaying updates by one or two business days and harming Xamarin's reputation in the process.
4. Performance
Xamarin apps tend to run more quickly than native solutions while still performing at a near native level, which may make Xamarin inappropriate if performance is an important consideration for clients of a company.
Also Read: Xamarin vs. Native development vs. other hybrid and cross-platform frameworks
Xamarin Integrated Developer Environment
Choose among several IDEs to build your Xamarin applications.
At first, there was Xamarin Studio, an exclusive development environment designed specifically to develop Mac and Windows apps (later only Mac apps). Now, this tool has become obsolete and has been superseded by Visual Studio for Mac.
Visual Studio is the primary environment for working with Xamarin, offering four distinct versions:
- Visual Studio community: a great option for students, small teams and open-source projects.
- Visual Studio Pro: is a powerful set of tools for writing code for small teams.
- Visual Studio Enterprise: an environment for large and complex projects.
- Visual Studio Code: not a full-featured IDE but a lightweight editor that provides basic tools to create simple applications.
The Pros Of Using Xamarin To Develop
There are many reasons why Xamarin has been adopted by companies such as Trello, Slack and GitHub.
A single technology stack to code for all platforms
Xamarin develops apps for all mobile platforms using C# and the.Net Framework, making the engineering cycle significantly shorter by sharing 80-90% of code between platforms and speeding development up. Plus, it doesn't force you to switch development environments; all Xamarin applications can be developed within Visual Studio Code or Visual Studio without extra cost for cross-platform tools!
Performance is Close to Native
As opposed to hybrid solutions built solely using web technologies, cross-platform apps built using Xamarin are classified as native apps by Microsoft. As the platform evolves and the performance of Xamarin changes accordingly, Microsoft provides advice for optimizing its performance as the app progresses; Visual Studio App Center also provides comprehensive solutions for testing, tracking and developing an app's performance as part of Visual Studio development, testing, tracking and tracking processes - though this service comes at a separate fee.
As previously discussed, we conducted experiments comparing performance between Xamarin apps and native applications. While these results are outdated now, they still demonstrate how powerful and performant Xamarin applications can be.
Native User Interfaces
Xamarin allows you to craft seamless experiences across platforms by employing platform-specific UI components. Xamarin.Forms make cross-platform app development possible on iOS, Android or Windows by automatically translating app UI elements to platform-specific interface components during runtime - an invaluable asset in business projects as it speeds development with just an additional abstraction layer that may cause performance drops; alternatively, you could utilize either Xamarin.iOS or Xamarin.Android independently for better results.
Xamarin has not traditionally been considered an optimal platform for apps requiring heavy graphics; however, Xamarin can still be utilized when developing apps with rich user experiences or complex animations.
Full Hardware support
With Xamarin, your solution will have native-level functionality. Xamarin eliminates hardware compatibility problems by offering specific APIs and plugins for common device functionality across platforms while also supporting native libraries as an add-on feature to its platform-specific APIs for enhanced customization without unnecessary overhead costs.
Open Source Technology With Strong Corporate Support
After Microsoft acquired Xamarin in February 2016, its licensing policies underwent radical transformations. All components of Xamarin SDK, including runtimes, libraries and command line tools, became open source within Visual Studio - opening up further platform growth by eliminating licensing fees as one barrier to platform growth. As part of The.NET Foundation led by Microsoft with support from Unity JetBrains and Red Hat, this tech stack has grown into one powerful tech solution.
Simplified maintenance
Xamarin's cross-platform app makes updating and maintenance simpler. Simply deploy changes directly into source files for iOS or Android applications - saving both time and money while keeping apps current!
Complete Development Ecosystem
Xamarin provides developers with an all-in-one package of development tools and an IDE for app creation, including SDKs. In April 2018, several of Xamarin's previously separate features became part of Visual Studio App Center, such as SDKs (Xamarin SDKs), testing platform (formerly Xamarin Test Cloud), distribution and analytics platforms (formerly Xamarin. Insights), as well as distribution analytics platform formerly Xamarin Insights). All this comes free - so no extra tools need to be purchased or integrated with other apps in order to develop, test, or release your apps!
Xamarin.Forms - a framework to create native UI layouts
Xamarin recommends two approaches to creating mobile apps using its frameworks. Firstly, developers may opt to utilize either Xamarin.iOS or Xamarin. Android, as these were earlier versions and considered more capable, or use the more modern option of Xamarin.Forms as developed by Microsoft. Xamarin.Form is an advanced solution ideal for rapid prototyping or the production of apps with less platform-specific functionality. It works best when designing apps that prioritize code sharing over custom user interface design; in such applications, you may reuse up to 99 percent of code! By designing for all platforms at once, Xamarin.Forms allow developers to quickly design a common interface across platforms without needing to design for each individually. Applications using both will result in seamless results - using some user interface elements from Xamarin. Forms as part of an overall solution while native UI Toolkit handles others.
Over time, Xamarin.Forms have developed into an active community. Tech providers like Telerik UI offer libraries that enhance engineering capabilities with preconfigured UI elements for quick deployment.
Xamarin.Forms XAML hot Reload
Microsoft recommends the use of XAML hot reload tools with Xamarin. Forms as they strive for rapid development. You can speed up development using these tools because changes made during debugging will show immediately in running apps without stopping and rebuilding, helping quickly refine UI by maintaining navigation data and state. In addition, using hot reload allows faster deployment/rebuild cycles, which enable changes to be validated more rapidly and ensure successful updates to applications faster.
Xamarin.Mac Tool: Building Mac apps with Xamarin.Mac Tool
Xamarin.Mac makes creating native Mac apps in C# or .NET possible using libraries from Objective-C development using Xcode, making the sharing of code between Android, iOS and Mac OS up to 90% possible when coupled with other Xamarin frameworks such as iOS or Android development. Plus, Xcode's Interface builder integration enables designers to design user-facing components easily.
Xamarin Learning Resources
Microsoft Learn is a free online education portal offering people of all backgrounds the chance to expand their technical abilities related to Microsoft products such as Xamarin. Courses cater to beginners as well as experienced engineers, helping learners prepare themselves for Microsoft Certification exams with self-directed online learning, office lectures and guest lectures as resources available through this educational hub.
Xamarin supports TVs, wearables and IoT.
Xamarin.Forms is an application development framework that makes building portable versions of applications across platforms easier, such as Tizen-powered wearables and TVs from Samsung or developing apps using Apple's TVOS or watchOS operating systems. Using it allows developers to develop apps more efficiently for different audiences across various environments - be they consumer devices like TVs and wearables or connected TVs such as wearables and TVs with apps for those platforms that exist alongside these two.
Also Read: How Xamarin is better than other cross-platform technologies?
Consider Xamarin Cons
There are some downsides to the platform. Why not use Xamarin instead?
The Latest Platform Updates Will be Supported with a Slightly Delayed Support
Xamarin team members are accountable for this. Third-party tools cannot immediately offer support for iOS and Android as it takes time for changes or new plugins to take effect.
Limited Access to Open-Source Libraries
Native development relies heavily on open-source technologies. You should utilize both Xamarin's platform as well as open-source.NET resources in order to meet both developers' and users' requirements for app creation. NuGet Packages make an excellent alternative solution when developing apps on Android and iOS platforms.
The High Cost of Professional and Enterprise Use
Xamarin may be free for developers, but enterprises will incur steep expenses with Visual Studio licenses. Visual Studio Professional, including core development tools such as UML and UX/UI design tools, costs $1199 upfront with annual renewal costs at $799; Visual Studio Enterprise costs a whopping $5999 upfront but costs only $2569. We will discuss both below.
The Xamarin Talent Pool
Xamarin has an extremely small developer community compared to iOS and Android native development, as well as React or Ionic development communities, making finding experienced Xamarin programmers difficult.
According to the 2020 Stack Overflow Survey, only 5.8 % of respondents used Xamarin Framework during 2020; 11.5 percent utilized React Native, while 7.2% relied on Flutter.
Xamarin offers extensive support to its developers despite having relatively fewer engineers on its team compared to iOS or Android communities. Microsoft Learn provides resources and practical instruction for those new to Xamarin technology; C#/.Net engineers often find this aid very beneficial when beginning development with it.
Fragmented documents and learning and development materials also compromise the support you receive - diminishing its quality significantly.
Basic Knowledge of Native Languages
You must use native APIs on each platform when developing mobile apps using Xamarin.iOS or Xamarin. Android to achieve native looks and feels. However, understanding some native technologies - for Android: Java/Kotlin; on iOS: Objective-C/Swift can still help when fully understanding documentation; however, Xamarin.Essentials provides multiple cross-platform interfaces that give access to native features; however, this does not apply to Forms apps.
The Larger App Size
Xamarin applications vary in terms of size depending on their complexity; native apps might only take half the space required by their counterparts. A simple Android "hello world" app could consume 16MB in memory due to libraries, content and Mono runtime assemblies that must be assembled.
Optimize Xamarin apps further, for instance, by linking all libraries included within. This will remove unused code and reduce file sizes.
ThXamarin.Forms will soon cease to exist.
Microsoft Build Conference will return in May 2020. One major announcement at this conference was that Xamarin.Forms would merge with.NET to become MAUI or "Multiplatform App UI." MAUI would feature a native-like user experience with access to native APIs.
As part of their gradual integration into.NET 6, Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS and.NET will become official components within.NET 6. They'll also be updated accordingly as needed to meet other workloads for which this framework might be needed - though we do not yet know when. Stay tuned!
Migration from Xamarin.Forms will take effect by November 2021 and MAUI's release. Support will continue for an additional twelve-month period after that point, so developers currently using or considering developing Xamarin applications should keep an eye out on dates and look out for Microsoft guides as this process unfolds.
Compatibility Issues With Third-Party Tools and Libraries
Third-party resources may present problems when trying to integrate them with your Xamarin application. Most vendors provide support for native technologies; however, Xamarin may not. While Xamarin may offer its own component store and functionality options that meet most needs in apps - potentially including capabilities or integration not provided directly through it; therefore wrappers will likely be required in order to use third-party packages effectively.
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Conclusion
Xamarin allows you to develop mobile applications more efficiently and at lower costs while maintaining native app features. This solution does not offer one-size-fits-all solutions for app development needs.
We have discovered Xamarin to be an indispensable tool in many instances. It allows us to significantly lower costs related to software creation and maintenance without compromising its quality, and see it as an opportunity for many.
Android and iOS remain dominant mobile platforms. When choosing between them to develop your solution, make sure you carefully weigh up each option's advantages and disadvantages before making your final choice. SaM Solutions boasts an experienced team in developing native and cross-platform apps. Get in touch with us now so we can discuss the details of your project in more depth; we are a reliable partner.
