Crossplatform Mobile App development with Xamarin

Now that Microsoft put its’ weight behind cross-platform C# development for Android and iOS with Visual Studio 2015, it makes even more sense to take a look at Xamarin.

Xamarin interacts with iOS and Android platforms via proxy libraries MonoTouch and Mono.Android.

Pros:

• Crossplatform – Multiplatform support is provided by standard Mono/.NET libraries – System.Data, System.IO, System.Net etc.
• Xamarin apps run Android, iOS and Windows.
• Visual Interface Designer- InterfaceBuilder and Visual Studio add-on allow visually designing UI.
• C# – Developers familiar with C# can build apps suitable for AppStore distribution without having to learn Objective-C or Java.

Cons:

• Memory Leaks – Most classes implement IDisposable interface and memory leaks are a serious concern. Elements are often proxies to native objects and Dispose it required to memory leakage.
• Exceptions – While Xamarin throws exceptions such by raising MonoTouch.Foundation.MonoTouchException and Java.Lang.Throwable, yet some exceptions only happen inside framework and never get to the app. Stack overflow, for example, crashes the app without even raising any exceptions.
• Some native API calls are not supported. For example, MonoTouch.AddressBook.ABPerson.GetVCards is missing. Xamarin.Android does not generate events AnimationStart and AnimationEnd for ViewFlipper.
• Support – there is a lot more information and help available for native development.

The shortcomings of Xamarin are manageable, but in some instances developers have to be ready to hack the Xamarin platform or engage a consultant to help with topical issues.
If you are planning to develop an app for just one platform, it probably makes sense to stay native, even if it requires learning a new platform.