Introduction to Xamarin Course (How To)

An introduction to developing mobile apps using the Xamarin platform. You'll learn what the Xamarin platform is and how it works. You'll setup a development environment that will allow you to build Android and iOS apps. You'll also learn techniques to share code across mobile platforms. Complete this course and you'll have a functioning app on Android and iOS using the Xamarin platform.

What you'll learn

• Setting up the Xamarin development environment
• Xamarin for iPhone
• Xamarin for Android

Getting Started in Xamarin

We'll start by going through the features of the Xamarin platform and how they help us to build an app for multiple platforms. Then we'll set up your Xamarin development environment, which is a little more challenging than most platforms because it supports multiple operating systems.

Chevron 6 steps

• The Challenges of Mobile Development

  4:21

• How Xamarin Works

  3:19

• Setting Up Our Development Environment

  4:04

• Which Visual Studio Do I Use?

  5 questions

• Supporting iOS Development

  2:33

• Visual Studio for Mac

  4 questions

Cross-platform Development with Xamarin

Now that we have our development environment setup, let's create our project using Visual Studio. Then we'll customize the Android and iOS apps provided by the project template. Our Pizza Calculator app will solve a simple problem that we all can relate too: “How many pizzas should I order?”

Chevron 9 steps

• Starting a New Project

  1:37

• Implementing the Android App

  6:27

• Android Development with Xamarin Review

  5 questions

• Debugging the Android App

  7:38

• Android Project Properties Review

  5 questions

• Implementing the iOS App

  10:16

• iOS Development with Xamarin Review

  6 questions

• Debugging the iOS App

  4:59

• iOS Project Properties Review

  5 questions

Sharing Code Across Xamarin Projects

We've used Xamarin to build apps for the Android and iOS platforms, but we haven't shared any code yet across our target platforms. Let's see how we can leverage a shared library in order to eliminate code duplication while still supporting platform specific features. Then we'll wrap up with some debugging tips and tricks and discuss next steps.

Chevron 9 steps

• Code Sharing Strategies

  2:54

• Using a Shared Library

  3:55

• Injecting Platform-specific Code

  7:12

• Enabling Phone Calls

  6:01

• Adding the Call Button

  3:57

• Reusable Library Review

  4 questions

• Debugging Tips and Tricks

  8:17

• Wrap Up and Next Steps

  1:41

• Debugging Tips Review

  5 questions