Xamarin Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development

Overview

In this course students will learn how to use Xamarin as a cross-platform mobile development tool to build native Android and iOS apps using C# and a .NET code base.

Students will begin by learning how to use Xamarin.Forms to build Android and iOS apps using a single code base. Students will learn how to use XAML to define the UI layer for all platforms. By installing the app on both Android and iOS simulators and real test devices, they will see how the UI renders as native controls on each platform, thereby giving the app a native look and feel.

Coverage of XAML includes how to use XAML controls to interact with the use, how to use XAML to manage the UI layout, and how to connect UI events to C# event handlers. Students will also learn how to custom the UI appearance of an app for a specific platform.

Students will learn how to interact with both local data stored on the device and how to communicate with, and process data from, RESTful services using Xamarin.Forms.

Xamarin also supports Xamarin Native, which allows developers to write separate native UI code for each platform. In this course, students will learn how to install and configure Xamarin.Android, and then examine Android application architectures. They will build Android applications in C# using Xamarin.Android using the Android designers and controls.

Students will also learn how to install and configure Xamarin.iOS, and then examine native iOS application architectures. Students will build Xamarin.iOS applications in C# using the iOS designers and controls.

This course will also examine how to work with touch and location services for both Android and iOS devices.

Objectives

In this course, students will learn:

Configuring a Xamarin development system

Xamarin.Forms vs Xamarin.Native

Anatomy of a Xamarin application

XAML for Xamain.Forms apps

Handling XAML events

Customizing XAML.Forms controls on the Android and iOS

Working with data on the local device

Making calls to, and processing data from, RESTful services

How to build Xamarin.Android apps

How to build Xamarin.iOS apps

Working with Touch

Working with Location Services

Using NuGet and the Xamarin Store

Prerequisites

C# programming experience.

Course duration

4 Days

Course outline

Introduction to Cross-Platform Development

Examining the Android, iOS and Windows UI Experiences

Options for Cross-Platform Mobile Development

Problems with Cross-Platform Mobile Development

Getting to Know Xamarin

Anatomy of a Xamarin Application

Understanding Portable Class Libraries

Improving Your C#

Reviewing C# and the .NET Framework
Understanding await/async
Understanding RESTful Services

Configuring your Development Environment

Installing Visual Studio and Xamarin
Configuring the Mac for iOS Apps
Testing Apps Using Emulators
Testing Apps on Physical Devices:
Building a "Hello World" Shared Project in Visual Studio

Part I: Introduction to Xamarin.Forms

Configuring the Visual Studio Project
Introducing XAML
Handling Events
Using XAML to Layout the UI
Using XAML Controls
Platform Specific Calls

Part II: Introduction to Xamarin.Forms

Working with Text
Working with XAML Resources
Working with XAML Styles
Data Binding
Working with Bitmaps

Customizing Xamarin.Forms Controls on Each Platform

Custom Renderers
Implementing and Customizing Views
Using Dependency Injection

Working with Xamarin.Android for Native UI

Configuring the Visual Studio Project
Understanding Android Concepts
Events, Protocols and Delegates
Designing a UI for the Android
Layouts
Widgets
Accessing Android APIs
Calling Existing Java Code

Working with Xamarin.iOS for Native UI

Configuring the Visual Studio Project
Understanding iOS Concepts
iOS Model-View-Contrroller
Events, Protocols and Delegates
Designing a UI for iOS
StoryBoards
Types of UIViewControllers
Accessing iOS APIs
Calling Existing Objective C/Swift Code

Working with Data

Local Data Options
Calling RESTful Services

Working with Location Services

Understanding GeoLocation
Implementing "Where Am I"

Working with Touch

Understanding Touch Events
Using Gesture Recognizers

Extending Your Application with NuGet and the Xamarin Components Stores

Cloud Service Features (ex: Authentication Support, Azure Mobile Client, etc)

Libraries (ex: Barcode Scanning, Messaging, Credit Card Scanning, etc)

User Interface Components (ex: Charts, Carousels, Signature Pads, etc)