Xamarin is an API which is important for iOS, Android, and Windows app development, The most astounding factor about Xamarin is that it helps programmers to write codes for different framework, yet all of them can be brought to one space.
Xamarin Cross-Platform Development is a framework with its own IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
Compiles apps in a native form
Xamarin has a library which allows you to write native UIs for once and then these can be shared and converted to other platforms
Supports Android, iOS and Windows platforms
Greater amount of resources which is got for free
Focus of Xamarin is mainly on UI and back-end logic
C# is the commonly used language allowing bugs to be caught at the time of run.
Has an advanced development tool system and process control such as inversion of control, mocking, unit testing etc
Xamarin do not share codes outside Xamarin environment for native/ HTML5 development
Good Microsoft support.
Shorter and simple learning curves
Overall cost is low
Importance of Xamarin for Mobile App Development:
Here are some of the reasons why you should be using Xamarin for cross-platform development:
1) C# The Apt Language for Mobile App Development
Xamarin utilize C# as the code base language from which applications are designed. The fact is that C# is the best code for cross-platform app development.
2) Use Similar Codes in Crosswise Platform
When an application's code is created using Xamarin, about 75% of the code is shared crosswise. Xamarin uses. NET and C# for any platform
3) API Integration
Update in apps are more frequent and regular phenomenon in both Android and iOS. In-case of iOS, updates are quite regular but in Android its unpredictable. Therefore, it's important for frameworks to support the newly updated version of each platform. And Xamarin has always proven to be best in handling this.
4) Native Experience in UI
Developers use Xamarin to create a smooth experience for their application. Xamarin convert the UI components into specific interface elements. Therefore, making it easy to customize the UI. This increases, the speed of the app and it serves as a better option for business-oriented projects.
5) Added feature of Visual Studio
Xamarin is now added to Visual Studio. This allows development and publishing of native apps for Android and iOS with C# or F#. In this program, there are no restrictions regarding the apps actual size.
6) Bugs Free Apps
In Xamarin apps, less codes are written and this is the main reason for low amount of bugs. It allows developers to code and then share across both iOS and Android. Developers can write a single and more reliable set of test easily, instead of wasting time on writing huge test programs.
7) No need for Additional Plug-In feature
Apps made with Xamarin uses standard UI controls and gives greater experience in different platforms. iBeacons and Android Fragment are functionalities that support these programs and no extra plug-ins are required.
8) Fast Development
Xamarin assures fast app development in the shortest time limit. You might think why? Well, actually you don't need to search for SDK, native coding and the environment for development when you have expertise by your side.
9) Cost-Effective Platform
If you don’t want to spend more money on mobile app development, then Xamarin is the best choice you have in the market. There is no need for investment in the development of infrastructure or spend on an individual team of developers. All you need is a single team of Xamarin expertise developers. The cost for development is less because you develop once for all the target devices.
10) Stands for Platform Originality
Unlike other competitors, Xamarin has unique characteristics for each existing platform which helps Xamarin Developers to share programs within other platforms.
If you desire to try new programs, then you may definitely switch to Xamarin, based on your project and requirement. It can make development simpler and more productive.
11)Xamarin Component Store
Xamarin Component Store allows adding high-quality components to your app directly from your IDE, including controls, web service APIs and more. You can integrate popular backends such as Microsoft Azure, Parse, Salesforce, and SAP, as well as add powerful security features such as authentication and encryption.
12)Xamarin.Forms
Xamarin.Forms is an API which helps in building user interface code that can be shared across iOS, Android and Windows Phone apps using 100% shared C#. Xamarin.Forms includes more than 40 controls and layouts, which are mapped to native controls at runtime.
13)Portable Class Libraries
Portable Class libraries or PCL makes it very easy for developers to share the same code base across different projects. The developers have to write the code and libraries once and they can be shared across Xamarin. iOS, Xamarin Android and Windows Phone. You can use popular Portable Class Libraries (PCLs) like SQLite, Json.NET - Newtonsoft, or ReactiveUI on every platform. Build your own app logic as a PCL and use it everywhere.
14)Native Performance
Xamarin eliminates the need of managing different teams for specific platforms. Your team can leverage advantages of Xamarin Studio or Xamarin libraries with Visual Studio. You can use Xamarin to leverage your existing mobile app code base too. Apps written in Java or Objective-C are easily transitioned to C# where they can gain a market traction.
Xamarin apps have access to comprehensive range of functionality exposed by the underlying platform and device, including platform-centric capabilities like iBeacons and Android Fragments. Xamarin apps capitalize platform-specific hardware acceleration, and are compiled for native performance. This can’t be achieved with solutions that interpret code at runtime.
15) Architecture Support:
Xamarin supports MVC and MVVM architecture which make applications secure and managed.
16) LINQ Support:
Xamarin technology also provides support for Language Integrated Query (LINQ).
So, There is no doubt that Xamarin is the most popular and is considered the king of cross-platform for mobile application development.
