9 Reasons Why Xamarin is Perfect for your Next App Development Project

Nowadays, there are mobile applications to fit virtually every need. Because of innovative mobile devices, capacities, and easy connectivity, going mobile is now the norm.

In 2018, downloads of mobile apps exceeded 60 million and in 2016, this number has virtually quadrupled – to over 220 million. Consumers are hungry for ever more innovative apps and, as a result, the industry that revolves around the development of mobile apps is always searching for ways to quickly create high-quality mobile apps that perform exceptionally well.

This push toward innovation has spurned the creation of frameworks that work across multiple platforms. It all started with Titanium; an open-source framework that gives developers the ability to use a single Javascript code-base to create an app that works on several operating systems. From there, we were introduced to PhoneGap, a program that allows developers to easily make apps with popular web technologies like Javascript, CSS, and HTML. Nowadays, there are a ton of web-based frameworks for developers to choose from.

The problem is that many of these frameworks are plagued with issues – namely their limitations in terms of Java and Objective-C of Android. Thankfully, Microsoft technologies like C# can deal with these obstacles with ease.

But, that’s not all – Xamarin is a relatively new cross-platform network whose sole purpose is to make life easier for Microsoft technology lovers around the world. And when it comes to cross-platform technology, it seems to be the clear winner in the eyes of both entrepreneurs and developers.

Want to know why? Check out 9 reasons that prove that Xamarin is the right choice for the development of mobile applications:

Superior Native Experiences

Nowadays, there are 100% browser-based apps that offer subtle native experiences. In other words, they provide access to native OS and device hardware features.

Frameworks that work across several platforms use technologies that tread the line perfectly between native experiences and web apps. This is especially important when you consider that the demand for native user performance and experiences continues to grow.

Xamarin Studio lets developers code in C#, a programming language that is completely object-oriented and can fulfill Java and Objective-C paradigms. In other words, Xamarin has the ability to provide native user interfaces with access to device-specific hardware and OS features. While the same can be accomplished using Angular JS and a combination of other Javascript programs, on a native level, C# works better.

Authentic Cross-platform Features

Xamarin features app logic that can be used on a variety of different platforms. Furthermore, it shares the UI layer app logic like web service calls, input validation, back-end integration, and database interactions.

If all these tasks are performed using C# in Xamarin, over 60% of the code can be used across the different mobile platforms. That leaves you with just a small portion of native code for you to handle, which saves massive amounts of time that would otherwise be used on recording, debugging, etc.

Ability to Seamlessly Integrate APIs

Native mobile platforms evolve with every update and developers are always coming up with new upgrades. For example, OS and device updates for Apple mobile devices are pretty regular. Android, on the other hand, has so many device manufacturers that updates can happen at any time. Thus, it’s vital to gain support for both operating devices and newly released device features when operating a cross-platform framework – something that’s quite easy for Xamarin to do.

Xamarin has the ability to bind UI controls and APIs using Xamarin.Mac, Xamarin.Android, and Xamarin.iOS, all tools that have the same capacities as native platforms. It’s PCLs (Portable Class Libraries) and corresponding application architecture gives Xamarin the ability to share code on all the mobile platforms. This unusual binding technology enables Xamarin to provide the newest support packages (with links) for Android and iOS releases.

Easy Sharing and Collaboration

Xamarin’s component store has a ton of both paid and free components that include:

● 3rd-party online services ● Cross-platform libraries ● UI controls

Developers are able to share these components with just a couple lines of code. This makes it relatively easy to encourage collaboration and sharing for app development across platforms in Visual Studio (with the help of the Xamarin extension) and Xamarin Studio.

C# Coding Advantages

The C# programming language is purely object-oriented, comprehensive, easy to learn, modern flexible, type-safe, and general-purpose. It gives developers the ability to treat simple data types as objects, which makes coding efforts significantly easier. In order to reduce type errors, C# shows flowed program behavior with type-safety properties. And it does so without using any verbose or boilerplate type annotations.

C# removes the need to use headers and pointers. Furthermore, reference and message operators are replaced by a period, which makes asynchronous programming with the ASL.NET framework as easy as pie.

Xamarin Developers Abound Aplenty

Because Microsoft is a technology pioneer, it’s developer community is quite large, creating a lot of competition in the field. This competition means that it’s quite easy to find developers offering affordable rates for high-quality work. Furthermore, it’s quick and easy to learn C#, especially when it comes to cross-platform scripts.

Platform Uniqueness is Supported

Android and iOS each have their own SDK and UI platform characteristics of behavior and appearance, tools that are essential when trying to do the same tasks as a native app. When frameworks suppress platform uniqueness, it no longer feels native and, as a consequence, is plagued with issues.

Xamarin, in contrast to other cross-platform technologies, doesn’t oppose the unique features inherent to each platform. In fact, it’s safe to say that Xamarin embraces these aspects. Furthermore, Xamarin has Android and iOS-specific .NET classes which enable it to easily share the core logic of programs across platforms. This feature lets Xamarin apps take full advantage of each platforms uniqueness.

Quick App Development

Because Xamarin provides native-like user experience as well as access to native hardware and software features, there are some who think that it involves a lot of hard work and effort, especially in terms of deployment, binding, and programming. But, truth be told, Xamarin lets developers create apps quicker than other frameworks.

With this framework, there’s no need for SDK, native coding or native expertise. Once you’ve coded everything with C# once, as well as provided binding code for coordinating native packages, you can go ahead and ship the app. You won’t have to do any more testing, designing, or coding.

Very Affordable

Xamarin ensures you won’t have to invest in separate native infrastructure development for Windows, Android, and iOS, nor will you have to hire another (expensive) team of native app developers. One team of developers with Xamarin experience is all you need to code and deploy your app on several mobile platforms, creating a seamless user experience in the process. These two factors alone make Xamarin the current champion of all frameworks.

The Bottom Line

After taking a comprehensive look at Xamarin, it’s easy to see why this framework is such an excellent app development tool. Working with an experienced Xamarin development team with expertise in Android, iOS, Microsoft, and C# technologies virtually ensures faster app development. How can you beat that?