This document provides a summary of Xamarin and cross-platform .NET development in 2016 and beyond. It discusses Xamarin's unique approach of allowing developers to build native mobile apps using C# with a single shared codebase that provides full access to platform APIs. It highlights new features in 2016 like improved Visual Studio integration and Xamarin Studio updates. It also outlines the roadmap, including improved XAML compilation and expanded Xamarin.Forms capabilities. The document demonstrates how to maximize code sharing between platforms using techniques like plugins.

1. Nick Landry
Senior Technical Evangelist – Microsoft
nick.landry@microsoft.com
Blog: AgeofMobility.com
@ActiveNick | github.com/ActiveNick
State of Union:
Xamarin & Cross-Platform .NET
in 2016 and Beyond

2. 






Agenda

3. Silo Approach
iOS WindowsAndroid
Objective-C
Xcode
C#
Visual Studio
Java
Android Studio
No shared code • Many languages & development environments • Multiple teams

4. Write Once, Run Anywhere
App Generator
Lua
Javascript
Actionscript
HTML+CSS
Limited native API access • Slow performance • Poor user experience

5. Xamarin’s Unique Approach
Shared C# codebase • 100% native API access • High performance
iOS C# UI Windows C# UIAndroid C# UI
Shared C# Logic

6. C# and Xamarin’s unique approach
The best of all worlds

7. 








2016: A Great Year for Xamarin Developers!

8. Xamarin is included
in Visual Studio

10. How Xamarin Works

11. Windows APIs
Microsoft.Phone Microsoft.Networking Windows.Storage Windows.Foundation Microsoft.Devices
System.Data System.Windows System.Numerics System.Core System.ServiceModel
System.Net System System.IO System.Linq System.Xml

12. iOS – 100% API Coverage
MapKit UIKit iBeacon CoreGraphics CoreMotion
System.Data System.Windows System.Numerics System.Core System.ServiceModel
System.Net System System.IO System.Linq System.Xml

13. Android – 100% API Coverage
Text-to-speech ActionBar Printing Framework Renderscript NFC
System.Data System.Windows System.Numerics System.Core System.ServiceModel
System.Net System System.IO System.Linq System.Xml

14. All 3 characteristics are required for a truly native app
Xamarin is native in all 3 ways
Native User Interface
Apps are built with standard, native
user interface controls for easy and
familiar interactions
Apps have access to the full spectrum of
functionality exposed by the underlying
platform and device
Apps leverage platform-specific hardware
acceleration, and are compiled as native
binaries, not interpreted at runtime.
High-fidelity API Access
Native Performance

15. Native Performance
Xamarin.iOS does full Ahead Of Time
(AOT) compilation to produce an ARM
binary for Apple’s App Store.
Xamarin.Android takes advantage of
Just In Time (JIT) compilation on the
Android device.

16. Same-day support:
• iOS 5
• iOS 6
• iOS 7
• iOS 8
• iOS 9
✓Always Up-to-Date
Full support for:
• Apple Watch
• Apple TV
• Android Wear
• Amazon Fire TV
• and much more

17. Visual Studio

18. Xamarin.com/Download
Visual Studio Integration

19. New Light & Dark Themes in Xamarin Studio

20. 








Xamarin Studio - Sharable Components

21. Demo:
Tour of the Xamarin
Developer Experience

22. Xamarin exposes 100% of the native APIs
for iOS, Android and Windows

23. Anything you can do in Objective-C, Swift, or Java
can be done in C# with Xamarin using Visual Studio

24. Cross-Platform .NET:
How did we get here?
How can we make it better?

28. Browser Phone

35. Meet Xamarin.Forms

36. Xamarin + Xamarin.Forms
With Xamarin.Forms:
more code-sharing, native controls
“Classic” Xamarin approach
Shared UI Code

37. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<TabbedPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
x:Class="MyApp.MainPage">
<TabbedPage.Children>
<ContentPage Title="Profile" Icon="Profile.png">
<StackLayout Spacing="20" Padding="20"
VerticalOptions="Center">
<Entry Placeholder="Username"
Text="{Binding Username}"/>
<Entry Placeholder="Password"
Text="{Binding Password}"
IsPassword="true"/>
<Button Text="Login" TextColor="White"
BackgroundColor="#77D065"
Command="{Binding LoginCommand}"/>
</StackLayout>
</ContentPage>
<ContentPage Title="Settings" Icon="Settings.png">
<!-- Settings -->
</ContentPage>
</TabbedPage.Children>
Native UI from shared code

38. Xamarin.Forms:
Build Native User Interfaces
Using Shared Code
Shared App Logic in C#
Xamarin.Forms comes with over 40
common controls, pages and layouts to
make app UI creation fast and easy
Even basic animations are supported
Xamarin.Forms is Fully Extensible:
• Subclass included controls and
customize behavior
• Define and add your own controls,
layouts, pages and cells
• Expose your own platform-specific
controls in Xamarin.Forms pages

40. Xamarin.Forms is open source too!

41. • Multi-Touch Enabled
• Pressure Sensitive
• Super Fast
• Rotate, screenshots,
location changes
• Never leave Visual Studio
NEW! Visual Studio iOS Simulator Remoting

42. Xamarin.Forms XAML Previewer

43. Demo:
Sharing UI Code with
Xamarin.Forms

44. Use Decide Screen-by-Screen
Xamarin.Forms is great for forms-based
screens. You can mix Xamarin.Forms with
the full power of Xamarin.iOS and
Xamarin.Android in the same app for
complete control over your app’s look and
feel.
Xamarin.Forms: Mix-and-Match Screen-by-Screen, Element-by-Element
Call Platform APIs via Shared Services
Need platform-specifc functionality within a
Xamarin.Forms page, such as querying the
accelerometer? We’ve included services that
quickly and easily abstract platform-specific
API calls to keep you writing as much shared
code as possible.
Embed Custom Views Anywhere
Not only are Xamarin.Forms pages
mixable with custom screens, you can
embed custom views built directly
against Xamarin.iOS and
Xamarin.Android into Xamarin.Forms
pages.

45. •
•
•
•
•
Roadmap

46. XAML Compilation
Parsed and inflated
Parsed & turned into IL

47. •
XAML Compilation Usage
[XamlCompilation(XamlCompilationOptions.Compile)]
[XamlCompilation(XamlCompilationOptions.Skip)]
[assembly: XamlCompilation(XamlCompilationOptions.Compile)]

48. •
•
•
XAML Compilation Benefits

49. Xamarin.Forms Ecosystem

50. 
 https://evolve.xamarin.com/session/56e205b0bad314273ca4d817


 https://medium.com/@harrycheung/mobile-app-performance-redux-
e512be94f976#.glqa5cmx6
Xamarin.Forms Performance

51. Sharing Code

52. Shared Projects

53. 1 Assembly
Multiple Platforms
Including:
Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android
Portable Class Libraries

54. NuGet

55. 









Choosing a Code Sharing Option

56. Demo:
Sharing Code with PCLs

57. Sharing Code Beyond
PCLs and .NET Standard:
Lighting-up Platform-Specific Code

58. 











Complementing .NET

59. Platform
Specific Code
What if we didn’t have to
write this code?
What if we could access
it from shared code?
UI+APIs UI + APIsUI + APIs
Battery
GPS
Lights
Notifications
Settings
Text To Speech
Battery
GPS
Lights
Notifications
Settings
Text To Speech
Battery
GPS
Lights
Notifications
Settings
Text To Speech

60. Xamarin Components and Plugins
https://github.com/xamarin/XamarinComponents
https://components.xamarin.com

61. TextToSpeech
Speak(“Hello World”);
AVSpeechSynthesizer SpeechSynthesizer

62. Plugins for Xamarin
Common API

63. Sharing Code Beyond PCLs & .NET Standard

64. Sharing Code Beyond PCLs & .NET Standard

65. Demo:
Plugins for Xamarin &
Windows

66. More New Stuff

67. Skia Sharp - 2D Graphics Library

68. Xamarin Workbooks – Interactive C#

69. Xamarin Profiler

70. Xamarin Profiler – Cycle Detection

71. 





Fall Themes

72. Watch dotNetConf 2016
for more on Xamarin, .NET, .Net Core,
ASP.NET, Open Source, the Future, etc.
http://www.dotnetconf.net/

73. 







Summary

74. 
 github.com/ActiveNick/MyWeather
 github.com/ActiveNick/MyWeatherNUI
 github.com/jamesmontemagno/MyWeather.Forms
 github.com/xamarin/xamarin-forms-samples
 github.com/xamarin/mini-hacks
 github.com/xamarin

 https://github.com/jamesmontemagno

 http://motzcod.es
Session Demos & Xamarin Videos

75. 


 https://aka.ms/xamebook
 https://aka.ms/xamebook/epub

https://aka.ms/xamebook/mobi
Free Xamarin.Forms eBook

76. 
 https://blog.xamarin.com/performing-ocr-for-ios-android-and-windows-
with-microsoft-cognitive-services/
 https://github.com/pierceboggan/smarter-apps/tree/master/ExpenseIt/

 https://blog.xamarin.com/adding-facial-recognition-to-your-mobile-apps/
 https://github.com/pierceboggan/smarter-
apps/tree/master/talk/employee-directory/

 https://github.com/xamarin/mini-hacks/tree/master/microsoft-cognitive-
services/solutions
Demo: Xamarin + Cognitive Services

77. 
 https://github.com/DotNetToscana/See4Me

 https://github.com/ActiveNick/BingTranslateDemo
Demo: Xamarin + Cognitive Services

78. 
 http://xamarin.com/download

 http://docs.xamarin.com

 http://evolve.Xamarin.com

 http://xamarin.com/university

 http://blog.xamarin.com

 http://motzcod.es

 http://weblogs.asp.net/wallym

 http://www.gregshackles.com
Xamarin Resources

79. Online Microsoft training delivered by experts to
help technologists continually learn
Hundreds of courses for developers, IT Pros,
students, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts
11 different languages
More than 2.1M students registered
Build your own Learning Plan
All free!
Cross-Platform Development with
Xamarin & Visual Studio
aka.ms/MVAxamarin
http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com

80. Thank You!
Slides are posted SlideShare. Demos are on GitHub.
Slideshare: www.slideshare.net/ActiveNick
Blog: www.AgeofMobility.com
Twitter: @ActiveNick
Mobile Apps: www.bigbaldapps.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/activenick
GitHub: github.com/ActiveNick
Email: nick.landry@microsoft.com