16
July
21

What is Xamarin? And know the Advantages & Disadvantages of Xamarin Forms

Xamarin is a Microsoft-based software company in San Francisco which is founded in May 2011. It is originated by the engineers who created Mono, Xamarin.Android & Xamarin.iOS. Microsoft Xamarin.Forms is a feature of Xamarin, the famous mobile development framework that covers the .NET developer platform with tools and libraries for building mobile apps. After Microsoft firstly declared their .NET Framework in June 2000, Ximian was bought by Novell on August 4, 2003. The name Xamarin originates from the name of the Tamarin monkey, changing the leading letter T with an X. Using this cross-platform mobile application tool, app Development companies can write native Android and IOS apps. Xamarin is a standard open-source cross-platform mobile app development framework from Microsoft.

Xamarin.Form is an open-source cross-platform framework from Microsoft used for building iOS, Android, & Windows apps with .NET from a single shared codebase. You can use Xamarin.Forms to build in pages, layouts, and controls to build and design mobile apps from a single API that is highly extensible. You can customize any control with subclass like customize their behavior or define your controls, layouts, pages, and cells to make your app pixel perfect.

What is Xamarin.Forms Exactly?

Xamarin.Forms is a cross-platform UI toolkit a mobile application framework that allows developers to easily create native user interface layouts that can be shared across Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. Xamarin.Forms will produce a 100% native iOS, Android, or UWP app. Xamarin.Forms offer 20+ cross-platform user interface controls, each of these controls has an API specific to Xamarin.Forms.

What are the Top Goals of Developers with Xamarin.Forms

  • Xamarin.Forms are for developers with the following main goals:
  • They can Share UI layout and design across platforms.
  • Developers Share code, test, and business logic across platforms.
  • They can write cross-platform apps in C# with Visual Studio.

How Xamarin.Forms works

Xamarin.Forms offer a reliable API for creating UI elements across platforms. This API can be executed in either XAML or C# or supports data binding for designs such as Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM). Xamarin. And then Forms uses platform renderers to exchange the cross-platform UI elements into native controls on Xamarin.Android, UWP, and Xamarin.iOS at runtime. This feature allows developers to get the native look, feel, and performance while understanding the benefits of code sharing across platforms. Xamarin.Forms applications usually involve a shared .NET Standard library and individual platform projects. Where the shared library contains the XAML or C# views and any business logic such as models, services, or other code.

What Are the Benefits of Xamarin.Forms

The market is likewise divided between iOS and Android. Your possible consumer can be on any platform, and sometimes on both. Both platforms need a sufficient budget to hire an app agency separately, and not all companies have this.

Also, developing an app for every platform can make it harder to provide the same speed and functionality required for your app. Hire an app agency, they can build your Xamarin mobile app or Xamarin Mobile Shopping Cart app that ensures excellent performance, strong support services, and reliability in developing there are major advantages of Xamarin. Forms are as below:

  • Single Technological Stack for Multiple Solutions

Xamarin app development is one of the most required Frameworks for businesses that offer time-effectiveness as well as the comfort of creation for the developers. C# is the single language in the technology stack that can be used for creating multiple solutions without having to switch environments, this is possible for the Visual Studio. The single technological stack in the Xamarin Framework creates it easy to use and learn.

  • Best Frameworks for E-commerce App Development

Using Xamarin’s open-source platform and code-sharing tools for E-commerce App Development will compile for multiple operating. It can provide the kind of back-end excellence that ensures each customer enjoys an unlimited and consistent user experience through all the company’s websites and Web pages. With Xamarin.Forms, you can get incredible app solutions that will let you take your idea to the next level that will be highly scalable, secure, and tailor-made to your unique business needs.

  • Reduce Development Cost

As Xamarin app development framework uses only a single technological stack as well as a reusable code, due to which the developers save their time for the development of a single application. And it significantly allows them to release their software faster to the client. Since the whole process is carried out between C# and the Visual studio, the app development company only requires a single team to work on the task as it is efficient significantly thereby removing additional expenses required for multiple teams.

  • 40-plus Controls

The app developers of the app agency can also use over 40 views as user interface elements. Usually, the end-users will interact with these controls. Xamarin Forms allows mobile apps developers to rapidly create cross-platform user interfaces. They can use user entry as a single-line form element to get user input and can create a button to initiate a user command, Image to display images, etc, The App developers can also use views and controls in third-party projects by using the views and controls provided by Xamarin.

  • Xamarin Is a Business-Friendly Platform

Xamarin mobile app development services vastly appeal to businesses that highlight modern app development practices due to its RMAD (rapid mobile app development) capability. It speeding up the process without compromising on cost.

What Are the Disadvantages of Xamarin.Forms

As we all know each coin has two sides. These are also some disadvantages of Xamarin.Form.

  • Smaller community

Because Xamarin is the latest platform, its community is still growing. So, app development companies seeking an experienced Xamarin developer which might have trouble finding one, and also engineers may have problems finding help when they face challenges.

  • Issues of App file size

There are beneficial in many ways, Xamarin is also somewhat accused of believing more time for the additional job of adjusting app file size. This is mainly because the generous use of Xamarin’s core libraries and functionality loads the app stores with unjustifiable app file size. The size margin in the store may vary from 3MB to 15MB.

  • Code Overhead

Xamarin has to work with numerous platforms at the same time that means apps created through Xamarin can have an overhead code. To place it simply, they are overcomplicated to allow smooth integration.

And the main downside of this is the fact that Xamarin-built apps are ‘heavier and may take up more space than native apps, basically because native apps don’t need that shared functionality. Though the Microsoft Xamarin department keeps working on it diligently, and Xamarin-based apps are getting lighter and faster with time.

  • Low Functionalities

Xamarin development is not appropriate for mobile applications with heavy graphics. Every operating system has an, unlike methodology for visually laying out screens. If the mobile app has high & heavy UX/UI, it should be developed natively.

  • Price

Xamarin itself is free as it the part of the .NET platform. But development needs the use of Microsoft Visual Studio which can be outside the budget for some.

What are the alternatives to Xamarin.Forms

There are many alternatives to Xamarin.Forms, among them, find 5 alternatives to Xamarin.Forms.
React Native

React Native is an open-source JavaScript framework, it can be used to develop natively rendering and real web applications. The main advantage of React Native is its capability to translate the markup into native, real UI elements.
Cordova
Cordova is an alternative open-source to Xamarin. Cordova platform uses CSS, JavaScript, and HTML for developing mobile applications with native mobile functionalities. If you want to create hybrid features like geo-location tagging, camera, file system, etc., then Cordova is the best option.
Phone Gap
It is best for developing native mobile apps. Developers with knowledge of CSS, JavaScript, or HTML can develop an app. Developers can develop applications for different mobile operating systems like Windows, Android, iOS, and Blackberry by using Phone Gap.
Android Studio
Android Studio is a vital tool for developers working on applications to be used with Android devices. Its mechanism works on the IntelliJ IDEA. Developers can enjoy app signing capabilities, Gradle-based build support, a well-featured and rich layout editor, ProGuard integration, Android-specific refactoring, template-based wizards for developing android mechanisms and designs, support for the development of diverse Android wear apps, and more.
Xcode
Xcode 6 presents a completely new way to design and build software. While swift is an advanced new programming language for Cocoa and Cocoa Touch and, when combined with Xcode tools, makes programming a pleasantly live experience. Live version inside Interface Builder shows your hand-written UI code within the design canvas, instantly reflecting changes you type in code.
Conclusion
Microsoft Xamarin.Forms are one of the frameworks that don’t permit any compromise on the quality while at the same time provides time-saving and cost-cutting measures for the App agency. Though, it is important to consult a professional and Hire the best app development agency while choosing between native or cross-platform application developments.