Why Choose Xamarin for Mobile App Development?

After going through the basics and advantages of Ionic app development in our last blog, time is just right to discuss a new technology, Xamarin. Another open-source platform for native and cross-platform mobile app development. 

In this article, we will discuss what Xamarin is all about along with the benefits of Xamarin for developers and businesses who are looking to develop a mobile app. Let’s get started!

What is Xamarin Development?

Xamarin is a framework, a platform, used to develop cross-platform mobile applications with native app tendencies about the look and the performance. After its acquisition by Microsoft in 2016, it became an open-source platform and was made available for the developers to use prominently. 

Xamarin uses the power of the .NET framework and C# to build the apps for Android, iOS, and Windows devices. It uses XAML, a markup language used to create the app UI and data binding. Xamarin here presents the functionality like an abstraction layer to foster the communication for the multiple platforms using the shareable code. The mobile application developers can write the codes and compile them into APKs, .apk for Android platform and .ipa for iOS platform.

Let us now view the benefits of using Xamarin for developing mobile applications.

Benefits of Xamarin To Build Android & iOS Mobile Apps

One Tech Stack for Multiple Platforms

To write and develop a code, .NET framework and C# are used by Xamarin. 80 to 90% of this code can be reused and shared while coding for other platforms like Android or iOS or Windows. This boosts the speed in the development cycle as Xamarin has incorporated built-in cross-platform tools to create mobile apps via Visual Studio, an IDE owned by Microsoft.

Programming Benefits of C#

C# is an object-oriented programming language that allows the coders to create modular maintainable applications and reusable codes. It is considered to be the most convenient programming language as far as coding is concerned. Compared to other languages, C# is the most simple to understand and use as a generic, modern coding language. To avoid typo errors, it offers type-safety features. C# is believed to be faster too, as it treats common data types as objects, eliminating a huge amount of development efforts for coding. 

Timely Programming Support of Microsoft

In any case, when developers are stuck during the mobile app development process due to technical issues, they can get support directly from Microsoft for the programming language C# or .NET framework. Microsoft community helps the developers with the ongoing development issues, updates about the coding language and .NET framework to ensure a smooth, faster development cycle, eliminating the delays.

Fewer Bugs, More Quality

As around 90% of the code will be reused, Xamarin foster very little coding required when compared to other technology frameworks. Software application testing using Xamarin is effective and easy as it allows mobile app engineers to test the apps directly in the cloud and across multiple device simulators using the hot reload. The testing process is much faster too with the tools like Xamarin Test Cloud and Xamarin Recorder, as the app engineers do not require to write and run tests separately for every platform. 

Faster & Affordable App Development

Xamarin is an ideal technology stack to select when there is a need to launch the product in a stringent timeline. There are a couple of reasons behind it. The first reason you have already read above that very little coding remains to be done. The only thing that remains is the binding process for the other platforms. A little binding code is written and the compiled code is ready to ship for the other platforms. This eliminated the need of hiring native app developers which can save huge costs and time on resources.

Full Hardware Support

Xamarin.forms is an open-source platform to build native-like user interfaces (UI) for multiple platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows from a single codebase in C# language with the help of .NET cross-platform toolkit. Xamarin.forms platform helps the developers to craft and develop portable applications with hardware integration. Apps for TVs with tvOS and watchOS, wearables, and even IoT devices are developed using the power of Xamarin. Hardware integration is seamless with Xamarin as it allows access to multiple native APIs and third-party APIs ensuring frictionless two-way data sharing.

Application Maintenance Simplified with Xamarin

The maintenance of the mobile applications developed in Xamarin is relatively easier compared to others. In case the developers need to make any changes or fix issues, they just need to make changes in the source code. Here is the thing, the changes made will be reflected on the applications running on all the OS at once. This saves time and effort too.

Summary…

Xamarin is the framework to develop cross-platform mobile applications, which never compromises the quality of the apps, maintains stability, speed and ensures cost-effectiveness to the businesses. 

IndiaNIC is a top Xamarin app development company providing end-to-end mobile application development services globally since 1997. Get in touch with Xamarin developers for a free consultation about a mobile app idea. Hire Xamarin developers with experience of 5+ years to develop and launch in record time.