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How exactly does Xamarin compare to native development (Java/{Objective C, Swift})?

• sandyarmstrong 11y ago
  You write C# code that gets compiled down to native code. Xamarin provides C# bindings for the platform's APIs. You can, therefore, do anything in C# that you would do in the platform's normal language. This is appealing to those who prefer C#, and to those that want to share business logic between their iOS, Android, and WP apps, but want to write that logic in a higher-level language than C++. Disclaimer: I work for Xamarin. Just saw your question was unanswered and thought I'd explain the basics.
• titanix2 11y ago
  If you prefer C# over Java, well, it is better. Learning both a new platform and a new language (especially Objective-C in the days Swift didn't exists) is a daunting task and Xamarin can ease the pain here. Also it is great to be able to maintain a single code base for the data model layer (including persistance), network access etc. And you can also use platform specific native APIs in C#. The not-so-smooth part is the UI. You have two choices here: using the Xamarin Forms library which is a toolkit that maps high level UI component to natives ones, with the drawbacks of less customization. Or to use the native UI tool (XCode designer for iOS, Visual Studio for WP; Xamarin Studio comes with a designer for Android) to create it. But in this case, you can't use data binding, which makes WP(F) developper very sad :( As a hobbyist mobile student developer, I wouldn't have enough time to develop a multiplatform mobile apps without it. (note: they offer free Indie plan to student who ask for it).
  • m_fayer 11y ago
    You absolutely can still use databinding without using forms! Take a look at mvvmcross or reactiveui, both very powerful.