Developing Enterprise Mobile
Apps with Xamarin
Loren Horsager
CEO, Mobile Composer
Outcomes
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Enterprise Mobile Platform Considerations
When and why to use Xamarin
How to get started with Xamarin
When to use different options in Xamarin
– Xamarin.Forms vs. Native
– Shared Projects vs. Portable Class Libraries
Enterprise Mobile Challenges
• Audience
– Internal – Enterprise App Stores
– External – Public App Stores
• Increasing segmentation
• Bring your own device
• Multiple platforms
– iOS
– Android
– Windows Mobile
What does an enterprise team need?
• Lots of Skills Needed
– Multiple languages
– Multiple Platforms
– Multiple Devices
– Different Implementation processes
Development Options
Mobile Web
Sites
Hybrid Apps
Native Apps
• HTML5
• PhoneGap
• Cordova
• Java
• Objective-C
• Swift
• .NET
• Xamarin
• Content Delivery
• Quick to develop
• Cross Platform
• Quick to develop
• Best Experience
• More $, More Time
Why Xamarin?
Leverage C#/.NET Developers
Build Cross Platform Native Apps
Reuse code across platforms
Access to Native controls and APIs
Native Performance
Write Once, Run Everywhere
• Portable Class Libraries
• Shared Projects
• Xamarin.Forms
Cost
Traditional iOS & Android
• Mac
• Mobile Devices
Total Cost: ~ $3,000
Xamarin iOS & Android
• Mac
• Mobile Devices
• Xamarin Platform
– iOS $900
– Android $900
Total Cost: ~ $4,800
+ $1,800
Enterprise App Types
Consumer Facing Apps
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Brand
Content
Experience
Functional
Integration
Internal Facing Apps
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Functional
Content
Integration
Experience
Brand
Consumer Based Apps
• Brand will matter
• Complete control over layout and design by
platform
• Depending on the specific design might need
to create custom UI for each platform
Internal Apps
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Xamarin.Forms for quick development
Deliver for BYOD situations
Tablet and/or Phones
Shared codebase
– Communications tools and data access tools
Xamarin Toolset
• Xamarin Studio – Mac
• Visual Studio Projects
• Build Server for iOS builds from Visual Studio
Cross Platform Project Structure
Visual Studio Solution - Mobile
Models Project
Shared App Logic
Shared UI Project
iOS Project
Android Project
Windows Mobile
Project
Code Examples
• Hello World App
Code Examples
• Xamarin.Forms
Data Access
• Enterprise Framework
– WebAPI, Restful services
– Breeze
• Local Storage
– Key/Value pairs
– Files
• Text Files
• Binary Data
• Serialized Files
– Database (SQLite)
Code Examples
• Data Access
• Local Storage
Xamarin Benefits
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Leverage current .NET team
Faster time to market for mobile apps
Shared code across devices
Target more devices
Quickly deploy internal Line of Business Apps
Orchestrate Demo
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Real World Xamarin App
Native code
Sync with WebAPI, Breeze
SQLLite for Offline usage
Resources
• Download Code at
http://developer.xamarin.com/guides/
• Download Presentation at
http://lorenhorsager.com/?p=56
• Connect
[email protected]
@lorenhorsager