Xamarin is one of the most popular cross-platform frameworks. Since its inception in 2011, the
Xamarin community has grown to 1.4 million developers in 120 countries. The technology is mostly
employed in enterprise environments and has received many positive reviews throughout the years.
The framework is used by approximately 15,000 businesses in industries like energy, transportation,
and healthcare. So what’s special about Xamarin; how does it work, and what tools do Xamarin
developers use? Let’s try to answer all these questions further in this post.
Xamarin — What Is It and How Does It Work?
Xamarin is an open-source platform for developing modern and high-performance applications for
iOS, Android, and Windows using.NET. It is an abstraction layer that maintains shared code
communication with underlying platform code. Xamarin operates in a controlled environment, which
includes features like memory allocation and garbage collection.
Thus, Xamarin allows developers to create native apps for the Android, iOS, and Windows platforms
using a single codebase, C#, and a single IDE, Visual Studio. As a result, a programmer may create
native mobile apps without learning Java, Kotlin, Objective-C, or Swift. That means that all of the C#
code must be changed to function on these three different platforms. The key features of Xamarin are
as follows:
● Native UI interface
● Native API access
● Native performance
So if you are looking for a fast and easy way to create apps for Android, iOS, and Windows
platforms, then it is a good idea to hire Xamarin programmers with sufficient experience. Thus, you
can be sure about a quality solution built with no delays.
Xamarin App Development IDEs & Tools
Xamarin provides a comprehensive set of tools to facilitate the development of cross-platform mobile
applications using C# and the .NET framework. These are designed to streamline the development
process, enhance productivity, and ensure the quality of Xamarin apps.
1 — Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft’s Visual Studio is a powerful IDE that allows for the creation of mobile and web apps. It
enables the development of mobile apps for iOS, tvOS, Android, and watchOS, as well as Mac
desktop apps, ASP.NET Core web applications, and cross-platform Unity games. The Visual Studio
IDE has a powerful editor, debugging, native platform interaction with Mac, iOS, and Android, and
an integrated source control system. It also includes updates for cross-platform mobile development.
2 — XCode
Apple’s XCode IDE is an essential aspect of the iOS app development process. It provides an
incredibly productive environment for developing a wide range of apps for Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple
Watch, and Apple TV. iPhone app development is possible with Xamarin on a Windows PC using
Visual Studio. A Mac machine, on the other hand, should basically be network accessible at the same
time, operating as a build host for remote compilation and debugging.
4 — NuGet
NuGet is a vital tool used by every Xamarin app development business. Its method assists developers
in creating, sharing, and consuming useful code. The resulting code is frequently packaged into
packages including built code as DLLs as well as other information necessary to consume these
packages. NuGet maintains a common repository of over 100,000 distinct packages at nuget.org, and
millions of.NET developers utilize these packages every day. Developers may also host packages
privately in the cloud, on a private network, or even on a local file system.
5 — Prism
The Prism framework is used to create XAML applications that are manageable, tested, and loosely
connected in WPF, Windows 10 UWP, and Xamarin Forms. This framework implements design
collection patterns that aid in the creation of sustainable and well-structured XAML apps, such as
dependency injection, EventAggregator, MVVM, commands, and so on. The Prism framework’s
primary feature is a common code base in a Portable Class Library aimed towards such platforms.
Platform-specific features are implemented in the target platform’s libraries. These patterns are also
integrated with the target platform via Prism.
Final Say!
Xamarin is a highly popular cross-platform development framework that lets you build Android, iOS,
Mac, and Windows apps with Visual Studio and C#. Code may be reused between platforms and
turned into native code, all while providing a native user interface, native performance, and access to
device-specific capabilities. With this in mind, it is no wonder why Xamarin is a top choice among
both programmers and IT businesses.
