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Xamarin.Forms Projects
Xamarin.Forms Projects

Xamarin.Forms Projects: Build seven real-world cross-platform mobile apps with C# and Xamarin.Forms

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Paperback Dec 2018 416 pages 1st Edition
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Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Karlsson Profile Icon Hindrikes
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€18.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4 (5 Ratings)
Paperback Dec 2018 416 pages 1st Edition
eBook
€17.99 €26.99
Paperback
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Xamarin.Forms Projects

Building Our First Xamarin.Forms App

In this chapter, we will create a to-do list app and, in doing so, we'll explore all the bits and pieces of what makes an app. We will look at creating pages, adding content to those pages, navigating between them, and creating a stunning layout. Well, stunning might be a bit of a stretch, but we will be sure to design the app so that you can tweak it to your needs once it is complete!

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

  • Setting up the project
  • Persisting data locally on a device
  • Using the repository pattern
  • What MVVM is and why it's a great fit for Xamarin.Forms
  • Using Xamarin.Forms pages (as Views) and navigating between them
  • Using Xamarin.Forms Control in XAML
  • Using data binding
  • Using styling in Xamarin.Forms

Technical requirements

To be able to complete this project, we need to have Visual Studio for Mac or PC installed, as well as the Xamarin components. See Chapter 1, Introduction to Xamarin, for more details on how to set up your environment.

An overview of the project

Everyone needs a way of keeping track of things. To kick-start our Xamarin.Forms development learning curve, we've decided that a to-do list app is the best way to get started and also to help you keep track of things. A simple, classic, win-win scenario.

We will start by creating the project and defining a repository in which to store the items of a to-do list. We will render these items in list form and allow the user to edit them using a detailed user interface. We will also look at how to store the to-do list items locally on the device through SQLite-net so they don't get lost when we exit the app.

The build time for this project is about two hours.

Beginning the project

It's time to start coding! Before moving on, however, make sure you have your development environment set up as described in Chapter 1, Introduction to Xamarin.

This chapter will be a classic File | New Project chapter, guiding you step-by-step through the process of creating your first to-do list app. There will be no downloads required whatsoever.

Setting up the project

A Xamarin app can essentially be created using one of two code-sharing strategies:

  • As a shared project
  • As a .NET Standard library

The first choice, a shared project, will create a project type that is essentially a linked copy of each file in it. The file exists in one common place and is linked in at build time. This means...

Summary

We should now have a good grasp of all the steps involved in creating a Xamarin.Forms application from scratch. We have learned about the project structure and the important files in a newly created project. We talked about dependency injection, using Autofac, and learned the basics of MVVM by creating all the Views and ViewModels needed. We also covered data storage in SQLite, to be able to persist data on the device in a fast and secure way. Using the knowledge gained from this chapter, you should now be able to create the backbone of any app you like.

The next chapter will focus on creating a richer user experience by creating a match-making application that displays images that you can pan around the screen. We will take a closer look at XAML and how to create custom controls.

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Key benefits

  • Explore SQLite through Xamarin to store locations for various location-based applications
  • Make a real-time serverless chat service by using Azure SignalR service
  • Build Augmented Reality application with the power of UrhoSharp together with ARKit and ARCore

Description

Xamarin.Forms is a lightweight cross-platform development toolkit for building applications with a rich user interface. In this book you'll start by building projects that explain the Xamarin.Forms ecosystem to get up and running with building cross-platform applications. We'll increase in difficulty throughout the projects, making you learn the nitty-gritty of Xamarin.Forms offerings. You'll gain insights into the architecture, how to arrange your app's design, where to begin developing, what pitfalls exist, and how to avoid them. The book contains seven real-world projects, to get you hands-on with building rich UIs and providing a truly cross-platform experience. It will also guide you on how to set up a machine for Xamarin app development. You'll build a simple to-do application that gets you going, then dive deep into building advanced apps such as messaging platform, games, and machine learning, to build a UI for an augmented reality project. By the end of the book, you'll be confident in building cross-platforms and fitting Xamarin.Forms toolkits in your app development. You'll be able to take the practice you get from this book to build applications that comply with your requirements.

Who is this book for?

This book is for mobile application developers who want to start building native mobile apps using the powerful Xamarin.Forms and C#. Working knowledge of C#, .NET, and Visual Studio is required.

What you will learn

  • Set up a machine for Xamarin development
  • Get to know about MVVM and data bindings in Xamarin.Forms
  • Understand how to use custom renderers to gain platform-specific access
  • Discover Geolocation services through Xamarin Essentials
  • Create an abstraction of ARKit and ARCore to expose as a single API for the game
  • Learn how to train a model for image
  • classification with Azure Cognitive Services

Product Details

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Publication date : Dec 27, 2018
Length: 416 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781789537505
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Length: 416 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781789537505
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Tools :

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Table of Contents

10 Chapters
Introduction to Xamarin Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building Our First Xamarin.Forms App Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
A Matchmaking App with a Rich UX Using Animations Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building a Location Tracking App Using GPS and Maps Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building a Weather App for Multiple Form Factors Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Setting up a Backend for a Chat App Using Azure Services Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building a Real-Time Chat Application Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating an Augmented-Reality Game Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Hot Dog or Not Hot Dog Using Machine Learning Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4
(5 Ratings)
5 star 80%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 20%
1 star 0%
J. Dodge Feb 01, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I've been a Software Developer for years. Started out with Ada in college and have been involved in projects using C++ (both VC++ on the desktop and VxWorks on the embedded side), C#, Angular, etc. Having only scratched the surface with mobile development in my free time (literally, a few hello world examples for Android), when it came time to start working on a mobile project for work, I decided I needed a book. Knowing that management had already chosen Xamarin, I took a gamble on this book since it only had 3 reviews (at the time I purchased).I personally loved this book. I might be a little biased because I was so excited to start working on some mobile projects for work, but all in all, this book completely met my expectations. I'll admit, I only got through 5 and 1/2 of the projects in this book, because it came time to start working "for real" at work :-)However, I've had to go back at least twice now and reference how something was done. So not only did this book give me the confidence to dive right in at work, it's still coming in handy a month later.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Unhappy Jul 22, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The source codes work! and quite practical
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Rich and Sandra Sherwood Jul 29, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
It's just what I need for my app developing
Amazon Verified review Amazon
mdl Jun 09, 2019
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Really great content. I enjoyed the projects and found the instructions easy to follow. Would recommend to any Xamarin developer looking to try building new types of apps.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Krish Krithivasan Aug 16, 2019
Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 2
The projects covered are too simplistic. Difficult to extend to the real world.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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