Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2017

Xamarin.Forms Essentials

First Steps Toward Cross-Platform Mobile Apps

Apress

Authors:

  • Provides the bare essentials needed to begin developing with Xamarin.Forms
  • Follows the building of a commercial app with over 15,000 downloads
  • Helps in confronting the challenges of working with third-party, RESTful APIs

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. What Is Xamarin.Forms?

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. A Brief History of Xamarin

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 3-18
    3. Introducing Xamarin.Forms

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 19-29
    4. Xamarin.Forms Contents

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 31-47
    5. Xamarin.Forms vs. Traditional Xamarin

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 49-59
  3. Building an App

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-61
    2. Establishing the Architecture

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 63-83
    3. Building Screens

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 85-117
    4. Connecting to a REST Backend

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 119-132
    5. Using Good Libraries That Are Already Out There

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 133-145
  4. Future of Xamarin.Forms

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 147-147
    2. What to Expect in Xamarin.Forms Version 3

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 149-153
    3. Conclusion

      • Gerald Versluis
      Pages 155-156
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 157-161

About this book

Learn the bare essentials needed to begin developing cross-platform, mobile apps using Xamarin.Forms. Apps can be easily deployed to Google Play or to the Apple App Store. You will gain insight on architecture and how to arrange your app's design, where to begin developing, what pitfalls exist, and how to avoid them. Also covered are expected new features in Xamarin.Forms 3.0, so you may be prepared ahead of time for what the next release brings. 


Xamarin.Forms Essentials provides a brief history of Xamarin as a company, including how their product has become one of the most-used, cross-platform technologies for enterprise applications and app development across the world. Examples in the book are built around a real-life example that is an actual app in Google Play and in the Apple App Store, and has thousands of downloads between iOS and Android. You will learn how an application is set up from scratch, and you will benefit from the author's hard-won experience and tips in addressing various development challenges. 


What You'll Learn
  • Create cross-platform user interfaces from one code base for both iOS and Android
  • See how a commercial application is built and then deployed for sale in the app stores
  • Integrate your Xamarin.Forms applications with third-party, RESTful APIs
  • Arrange application architecture to avoid pitfalls and optimize your design
  • Get a heads-up on new features released as part of Xamarin.Forms 3.0
  • Choose appropriately between Xamarin.Forms and traditional Xamarin, depending upon your application needs and its goals

Who This Book Is For


Mobile app developers who are producing software for multiple platforms, including Google Android and Apple iOS. Readers should be familiar with Visual Studio either on Mac OS X or Windows, and have a working knowledge of C#. 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Sittard, The Netherlands

    Gerald Versluis

About the author

Gerald Versluis is a full stack software developer and Microsoft MVP from Holland. He has many years of experience working with Xamarin and .NET technologies. Gerald has been involved in a variety of roles in numerous different projects. A great number of these projects involve developing Xamarin apps. Not only does Gerald like to code, but he also is keen on spreading his knowledge and gaining some in the bargain. Gerald speaks, provides training sessions, and writes blogs and articles in his spare time. 

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access