Building native and cross-platform apps

Using C#, .NET, and Xamarin in Visual Studio and Xamarin Studio

Developers can create stunning native apps using C#, Xamarin, and .NET across iOS, Android, and
Windows, with a shared C# code base. As illustrated in Figure 2-2, you have apps that can provide a
different UI and look and feel per platform but at the same time you can share most of the C# code
(client logic) or even UI Code if using Xamarin.Forms.

With this approach, developers can do the following:
 Take advantage of existing C# skills.

 Create 100 percent native UIs customized for each platform, using full-featured Android, iOS
Designers, and Windows 10 Universal Windows Platform (UWP) Designers. Xamarin and UWP
apps are native apps, so they look and feel like users expect. Developers can design their apps’
interfaces through the IDE’s designers.

 Enjoy the benefits of maximized code sharing with PCLs and Shared Projects.

 Build a custom native UI for each platform using Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Android, and Windows 10 UWP. Or, use Xamarin.Forms to write single, shared user interface (based on XAML) across those
platforms.

 You can install the latest version of Xamarin from Visual Studio. Choose a Xamarin project to
begin building your app, and use standard C# IntelliSense, debugging, and other powerful
features of the Visual Studio IDE.

 Use Azure App Service SDKs to connect to back-end systems and connectors and to use mobile
services in Azure like Azure Mobile App. In addition, Xamarin and .NET apps can consume any
third-party service/cloud (like standard HTTP services based on JSON and OAuth).

 Benefit from interoperability and flexibility. Xamarin apps can use 100 percent of the platform’s
APIs (iOS and Android) that are exposed through Xamarin/C#, which means that anything you can
do in Objective-C, Swift, or Java, you can do in C# and Visual Studio with Xamarin.
Xamarin promises the industry’s fastest support for new iOS and Android APIs as they are
released to the public.


Building native components by using Visual Studio C++ cross-platform
You can develop C++ cross-platform mobile code for Android, Windows, and iOS. With Visual Studio and C++, you can do the following:

 Develop shareable libraries and components by using C++ that are compiled to native.

 Share and reuse existing C++ code.

 Embed C++ components within Xamarin cross-platform apps.

 Move existing C++ libraries to target Android and Windows platforms, or use these C++ libraries
to build complete Xamarin Android Native or Java Native Interface applications. You can also
develop complete Android Native-Activity applications—all within Visual Studio.


Building native games by using Visual Studio Tools for Unity
You can build games by using the Unity engine and writing C# logic in Visual Studio taking advantage of debugging, IntelliSense, and many other productivity features in Visual Studio.

Basically, with Unity and Visual Studio you can do the following:

 Build multiplatform games
 Debug from Visual Studio
 Create Unity scripts in Visual Studio
 Enhance productivity with Visual Studio
 Take advantage of Visual Studio Tools for Unity that are natively supported in Unity
 Get Unity and Visual Studio tools all in the Unity installer

The Unity engine integrates into one unparalleled platform to create 2D and 3D games and interactive
content. Create once, and publish to 21 platforms, including all mobile platforms, WebGL, Mac, PC
and Linux desktop, web, or consoles.

Source Of Information : Microsoft Platform and Tools for Mobile App Development