This slide was first presented at the Atlanta Xamarin Users Group. Feel free to join us and share your Xamarin knowledge at the next one @ http://www.meetup.com/Atlanta-Xamarin-Users-Group/

1. S E A M L E S S L Y B L E N D I N G C r e a t i v e & T e c h n o l o g y o n
M o b i l e , T a b l e t a n d W E B
W W W . B L U E T U B E I N C . C O M

2. Introduction to Xamarin

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Xamarin?
Xamarin Overview
• What it is
• What it isn‟t
• What the future holds
• What you‟ll need

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Xamarin?
Xamarin Overview
• Okay… What else?
• Tips & tricks
• Resources

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What it is…
Xamarin Overview
• Oh, you mean Monotouch?
• Mono for android?
• Xamarin.ios === Monotouch
• Xamarin.Android === Mono for Android
• Tip: google both

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What it is…
Xamarin Overview
• Native?
• Compiles to native APP using:
• Objective C (iOS)
• Java (Android)
• iOS: Ahead of Time (AOT) Compiler

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What it is…
Xamarin Overview
• Native?
• Native Libraries and APIs
• iOS: CocoaTouch, CoreGraphics, Quartz 2d, etc.
• ANDROID: PINVOKE, bindings, etc.

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What it is…
Xamarin Overview
• C#
• C# 2.0 language features
• soon to be C# 4.0
• “Most” .NET base libraries (via Mono)
• Some variation between iOS and Android
• LINQ

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What it is…
Xamarin Overview
• C#
• Generics
• Lambdas
• etc.
• Garbage Collection
• managed C# objects only

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What it is…
Xamarin Overview
• iOS Objective C library support
• Xamarin “binding” to Obj C libs
• Examples:
• Google Maps, Analytics
• Red Laser
• TestFlight
• Etc.

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What it is…
Xamarin Overview
• iOS Objective C library support
• Don‟t reinvent the wheel
• Many already on Github, etc.
• https://github.com/mono/monotouch-bindings

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What it‟s not…
Xamarin Overview
• Shared UI Platform
• Not a great idea anyway due to varying UI
paradigms
• JIT compiling not possible
• Limits reflection code

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What it‟s not…
Xamarin Overview
• Limited generics support
• Most of the useful stuff is there
• Garbage collection not perfect
• Due to the native/managed interaction
• Needs „help‟ – more disposal code than most
.NET-based solutions

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What it‟s not…
Xamarin Overview
• Other limitations
• iOS:
http://docs.xamarin.com/guides/ios/advanced
_topics/limitations

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What the future holds…
Xamarin Overview
• Things in Alpha/Beta channels
• C# 4.0 support
• Async/await
• Portable libraries
• iOS Designer in Xamarin Studio

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What you need…
Xamarin Overview
• Xamarin license
• Specifics ON Website, RECENT changes
• https://store.xamarin.com/
• Starter edition for independent devs
• FREE
• Limited a bit

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What you need…
Xamarin Overview
• Xamarin Studio
• iOS specific:
• A Mac
• XCode
• Apple Developer account

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What you need…
Xamarin Overview
• Android specific:
• Android SDK
• Xamarin STUDIO installation now includes the
SDK

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Other things it can do
Xamarin Overview
• Visual Studio integration
• Still need a Mac for IOS
• XCode for iOS UI design
• Until Xamarin ios designer ready
• No extra needs for Android

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Other things it can do
Xamarin Overview
• Code sharing for mobile
• Done with file “linking”
• Able to share C# code between
iOS, Android, Windows phone, .NET
• Xamarin.Mac for Mac
• development in C#

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• SQLite-net
• ORM for SQLite
• Maps C# classes to SQLite tables
• Easy to use
• https://github.com/praeclarum/sqlite-net

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Injection
• TinyIOC
• Simple
• https://github.com/grumpydev/TinyIoC

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Event Aggregator
• TinyMessenger
• Loosely coupled communication
• https://github.com/grumpydev/TinyMessenger

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Android Emulators
• Get a test device
• X86 has made life easier
• In Xamarin Studio, set the project to support
x86 by selecting the x86 checkbox under
Options > Build > Android Build > Advanced

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Test cloud!

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Garbage collection
• Sgen vs. Boehm
• SGEN recommended, boehm the default
• Unhook button event handlers

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Garbage collection
• Xamarin examples show:
Button.TouchUpInside += (sender, e) = {
//do something
};
• Avoid this
• Why?

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Xamarin studio tips
• Drag & drop files to nest them
• Merging iOS storyboards can be difficult
• XML, but…

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Xamarin studio tips
• File linking to share code between
Android, Windows phone, .NET projects, etc.
• No platform specific code
• Linking is the best option until portable libraries
are available to use

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Tips & Tricks
Xamarin Overview
• Xamarin studio tips
• iOS XCode integration gotchas
• Sometimes tries to destroy your project
• Save early, save often
• Commit to SVN, GIT often
• Xamarin component store

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Resources
Xamarin Overview
• Xamarin resources
• xamarin.com
• Guides: http://docs.xamarin.com/guides
• Recipes: http://docs.xamarin.com/recipes
• Samples:
http://docs.xamarin.com/samples-all

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Resources
Xamarin Overview
• Android
• developer.android:
http://developer.android.com/index.html
• Device stats:
http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

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Resources
Xamarin Overview
• iOS
• Developer Library:
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/index.html

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The end
Xamarin Overview
• These slides will be on Bluetube‟s blog
• http://blog.bluetubeinteractive.com
• Questions?