Xamarin is a cross-platform mobile app development framework that allows you to build native iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS applications using C# and .NET. With Xamarin, you can use a single language, C#, and .NET APIs to target multiple platforms from a shared codebase.
This complete guide covers everything you need to know as a beginner about Xamarin including:
- Overview and features
- History
- Use cases
- Development process
- Tools and IDE options
- Advantages and disadvantages
- Comparison to alternatives
- Learning resources
So let‘s get started!
What is Xamarin?
Xamarin is an open-source mobile app development software owned by Microsoft that enables developers to build fully native mobile apps across Android, iOS and Windows platforms using C# programming language and .NET framework.
Some of the key capabilities and features of Xamarin include:
- Build fully native apps for Android, iOS and Windows from a single shared C# codebase
- Access native platform APIs and UI controls for each platform
- High-performance apps with near-native speeds thanks to ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation
- Share business logic and UI code across platforms
- Visual Studio integration and world-class DevOps support
- Open-source with active community support
This approach of "write once, run anywhere" allows significant code reuse and productivity benefits compared to traditional native development in Java/Kotlin for Android and Objective-C/Swift for iOS.
A Brief History of Xamarin
Xamarin originated in 2011 when the core developers behind Mono, an open source .NET implementation for Linux, forked it to create a new company focused on mobile development.
MonoTouch and Mono for Android were the initial products which allowed C# and .NET to be used for iOS and Android native development.
In 2016, Microsoft acquired Xamarin and made its SDKs open source and free. This made Xamarin easily accessible to Windows developers using Visual Studio and allowed tighter integration with Microsoft‘s cloud and DevOps services.
Since then, Xamarin has continued to evolve and add capabilities like XAML UI framework, Xamarin.Forms for cross-platform UI development and Visual Studio App Center for improved CI/CD and monitoring.
Who is Xamarin For? Use Cases and Companies using it
Xamarin is a great fit for:
- C# and .NET developers who want to build mobile apps without learning new languages
- Building enterprise apps where sharing logic across platforms is beneficial
- Teams with specialized native developers but core business logic written in C#
- Applications where hardware acceleration for graphics/games is needed
Some example companies using Xamarin for their apps:
- Alaska Airlines
- Cognizant Softvision
- Siemens
- Cumplo
- JustGiving
- Olo
- UPS
The benefits around code reuse, testing and speed of development has made Xamarin the choice for numerous consumer and enterprise apps alike.
Xamarin App Development Process and Tools
The high-level process for building a Xamarin app involves:
- Installation of Visual Studio with required workloads
- Creation of new cross-platform app solution
- Designing UI with native controls and XAML
- Writing business logic and integrating data services with C#/.NET
- Configuration and adding platform-specific components
- Testing the UI and logic on platform emulators
- Final packaging and release build per platform
The main tools used for Xamarin development include:
Visual Studio: The most common and recommended IDE for Xamarin and comes bundled with emulators, compilers, debugging tools and integration with Azure services.
Xamarin Studio: A lighter and more mobile-focused IDE based on MonoDevelop. Less features compared to Visual Studio but simpler UI.
Visual Studio App Center: Provides hosted CI/CD build infrastructure, testing on thousands of real devices, monitoring and analytics. Simplifies DevOps.
Microsoft has first-class support and frequent updates for the Visual Studio and App Center ecosystem to optimize the development workflow.
Key Advantages of Using Xamarin
Here are some of the major advantages of using Xamarin for mobile development:
Code Sharing: Share up to 90% of the codebase including business logic, models, data access across Android, iOS and Windows applications. Drastically reduces duplication of effort and maintenance overhead.
Native Performance: Xamarin apps have near-native speeds since the UI code compiles directly to native Android and iOS code. High fps applications like games work smoothly.
Access to Native APIs: Xamarin provides access to full spectrum of thousands of native APIs on each platform to tap platform capabilities.
Familiar Environment: Usage of Visual Studio, C# and .NET allows most backend developers to leverage existing skills. Low learning curve.
Cross-Platform Testing: Test across different platforms early and often in the development cycle to minimize nasty surprises later.
Enterprise Capabilities: Integrates easily with enterprise systems and services. More suitable for large development teams.
For typical enterprise applications emphasizing shared logic, Xamarin ticks all the boxes. The advantages translate directly into improved time-to-market and lower costs.
Disadvantages and Limitations of Xamarin
No technology is perfect however, and Xamarin too has its downsides:
App Size Bloat: Due to runtime libraries and garbage collection support code, Xamarin apps have larger binaries and installation footprint compared to lean native apps.
Limited Community: Being centered around Visual Studio and .NET ecosystem, finding answers and expert help on forums can be challenging.
Vendor Dependence: Tied closely to Microsoft toolchain, updates and changes to .NET/Visual Studio can impact your application. Not fully open.
Steep Learning Curve: To maximize code reuse benefits requires deep understanding of native platforms. Can be challenging for junior developers.
Not Optimized for Design: Other cross-platforms like Flutter can achieve more sophisticated UI/UX behavior with less effort.
While the high performance runtime compensates for most drawbacks related to size and complexity, not all developer skills profiles and applications fit into the Xamarin mold.
How Does Xamarin Compare to Alternatives?
Let us briefly see how Xamarin compares with other popular cross-platform mobile development frameworks:
| Framework | Basis | Languages | UI Strategy | Performance | Learning Curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xamarin | .NET + Native Bindings | C# | Native Controls | Near-native speed | High |
| React Native | JavaScript Runtime | JavaScript | Custom Bridge Components | Slower UI, faster business logic | Moderate |
| Flutter | Dart Runtime | Dart | Custom Rendering Engine | Near-native speed | Moderate |
As seen above, Xamarin delivers the overall best-in-class native experience thanks to direct code compilation and native controls. But requires more specialized C# and platform skills.
Flutter and React Native are easier to pickup and allow faster cross-platform UI development with their own custom widgets. But overall app performance can be less consistent.
Choose Xamarin when native experience with C# is the priority. For simpler apps with web developers on the team, JavaScript frameworks work well too.
Learning Resources for Xamarin Development
To effectively leverage Xamarin will require some learning and ramp up:
Documentation and Official Resources
Microsoft‘s developer portal has excellent written and video documentation covering everything from basics to advanced techniques:
Additionally, their hands-on tutorials take you systematically from Hello World to publishing your first app:
Online Courses
Some of the top online courses to master Xamarin app development include:
- The Complete Xamarin Developer Course on Udemy – One of the highest rated courses for beginners.
- Xamarin Forms Course on Pluralsight – Focused more on UI development with Xamarin Forms.
- Build iOS and Android Apps in Xamarin on edX – Free course from Microsoft themselves.
Books
Some useful books for learning or as reference are:
- Creating Mobile Apps with Xamarin.Forms book – Comprehensive book covering latest version of Xamarin.
- Xamarin in Action – End-to-end guide on development workflow.
- Xamarin Cross-Platform Application Development – Features advanced UI techniques.
Community Forums
The .NET community has an active forums to discuss solutions with fellow Xamarin developers:
Conclusion
I hope this article provided you a great high-level overview of the powerful cross-platform development framework – Xamarin. We covered the capabilities, advantages, tools and learning resources to help you be productive with it.
Xamarin has continued to mature over the years into an advanced native application development platform thanks to Microsoft‘s stewardship. For teams comfortable with C# and .NET skills, Xamarin unlocks huge productivity from code and skill reuse.
The learning curve requires some patience but pays back multifold in reduced duplication of effort over long term.
Check out more Xamarin tutorials on the Geekflare blog and let me know if you have any other questions!
