Mastering Xamarin UI Development - Second Edition

Learn how to build stunning, maintainable, cross-platform mobile application user interfaces using C# 7 with the power of both the Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms frameworks.

Key Features

• Build effective native and cross-platform user interfaces using the Xamarin frameworks for iOS and Android, as well as Xamarin.Forms
• Maximize the testability, flexibility, and overall quality of your Xamarin mobile apps
• Step-by-Steps guide that is packed with real-world scenarios and solutions, to build professional grade mobile apps and games for the iOS and Android platforms, using C# 7

Book Description

This book will provide you with the knowledge and practical skills that are required to develop real-world Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms applications. You’ll learn how to create native Android app that will interact with the device camera and photo gallery, and then create a native iOS sliding tiles game. You will learn how to implement complex UI layouts and create customizable control elements based on the platform, using XAML and C# 7 code to interact with control elements within your XAML ContentPages.

You’ll learn how to add location-based features by to your apps by creating a LocationService class and using the Xam.Plugin.Geolocator cross-platform library, that will be used to obtain the current device location. Next, you’ll learn how to work with and implement animations and visual effects within your UI using the PlatformEffects API, using C# code.

At the end of this book, you’ll learn how to integrate Microsoft Azure App Services and use the Twitter APIs within your app. You will work with the Razor Templating Engine to build a book library HTML5 solution that will use a SQLite.net library to store, update, retrieve, and delete information within a local SQLite database. Finally, you will learn how to write unit tests using the NUnit and UITest frameworks.

What you will learn

• Downloading and Installing the Visual Studio for Mac IDE
• Overview and Understanding of the Xamarin Mobile Platform
• Understand the MVVM architectural pattern and how to implement this with your apps
• Build a NavigationService class to enable navigation between your ViewModels
• Implement Data-Binding to control elements within your XAML pages and ViewModels
• Create and Implement Xamarin.Forms Animations within your applications
• Work with the Microsoft Azure App Services Platform and the Facebook SDK

Who this book is for

This book is intended for readers who have experience using at least the C# 6.0 programming language and interested in learning how to create stunning native, and cross-platform user interfaces for the iOS and Android platforms using the Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms frameworks using C# 7.

Table of Contents

1. Setting up Visual Studio for Mac
2. Building a Photo Library app using Xamarin.Android and C#
3. Building a Picture Sliding Game using Xamarin.iOS and C#
4. Creating the TrackMyWalks Native App
5. MVVM and Data Binding
6. Navigating within the MVVM Model - The Xamarin.Forms Way
7. Adding Location-Based Features within Your App
8. Customizing the User Interface
9. Working with Animations in Xamarin.Forms
10. Working with the Razor Templating Engine
11. Incorporating API Data Access using Microsoft Azure App Services
12. Making our App Social – Using the Twitter API
13. Unit Testing your Xamarin.Forms App using the NUnit and UITest Frameworks

Steven F. Daniel is the CEO and founder of GENIESOFT STUDIOS, a software development company based in Melbourne, Victoria, that focuses primarily on developing games and business applications for the iOS, Android, and Mac OS X platforms.

He is an experienced software engineer with more than 17 years' experience and is extremely passionate about making people employable by helping them use their existing skills in iOS, Android, and Xamarin to get the job done. He is a member of the SQL Server Special Interest Group (SQLSIG), CocoaHeads, and the Java Community. He was the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at SoftMpire Pty Ltd., a company focused primarily on developing business applications for the iOS and Android platforms.