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Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

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Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#61

Post by FlyingSnake »

iOS developer with multiple years of experience of burning fingers in cross-platform development here.

I've tried Cordova/Ionic, Xamarin, Dropbox Djinni, and native iOS development. C++ is the closest I've got the a performant cross-platform solution, even though it go it's own quirks.

The problem with Xamarin is it'll always play second fiddle to quick moving targets of Android and iOS toolchains. In my case the Reactive Extensions support was utterly broken, and Visual Studio kept crashing on MvvmCross, Android SDK updates would make things hell, and I would waste at least 8 hours a week to fight the toolchain. The promise of cross-platform doesn't deliver much as you're trying to tweak your MVVM solution to Android/iOSs whims and fancies, which leave you with a fragile common logic.

If you want to write a TODO list of simple CRUD app, it might work, but for professional iOS/Android development, Xamarin is not enough. Xamarin doesn't free you from learning ViewController lifecycle etc and platform specific implementation details. So you're stuck on a foreign platform, with extra overload of learning C#/F# along with Android/iOS platform overhead.

My Advice: Learn Swift and Kotlin, and do native development. Cross-Platform is a illusion, and the road is paved with dead and failed projects.

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#62

Post by ceeK »

FlyingSnake wrote: post #61

iOS developer with multiple years of experience of burning fingers in cross-platform development here. I've tried Cordova/Ionic, Xamarin, Dropbox Djinni, and native iOS development. C++ is the closest I've got the a performant cross-platform solution, even though it go it's own quirks. The problem with Xamarin is it'll always play second fiddle to quick moving targets of Android and iOS toolchains. In my case the Rea…

Thanks for the input. I do feel more and more that cross-Platform is a illusion like you say.

I already know Swift. Do you think Kotlin would a better transition into Android than straight up Java?

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#63

Post by DenisM »

FlyingSnake wrote: post #61

iOS developer with multiple years of experience of burning fingers in cross-platform development here. I've tried Cordova/Ionic, Xamarin, Dropbox Djinni, and native iOS development. C++ is the closest I've got the a performant cross-platform solution, even though it go it's own quirks. The problem with Xamarin is it'll always play second fiddle to quick moving targets of Android and iOS toolchains. In my case the Rea…

What about React Native?

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#64

Post by DevInPainNeo »

The Xamarin needs to develop easy and customization should be easy.

Had huge pain in full screen mode dynamically for all the devices.

Calendar with colors forced me to create a new custom control from 0.

To be stable with the controls if you make a tab control in one version should be the same in other versions also, not reinvent and change the wheel.

Easy and clear documentation. Forums all with lots of no one cares why it works int works on my machine stuff.

To new technology and has to get mature and stable. If you are not in the same versions of Xamarin in mac and windows it just not works properly.

Proper error message. I am getting an error like There were deployment errors. Continue. (Not run in administrative mode the vs 2015, closing the emulator or it was opened by other vs before, or you closed the emulator before finished the deploy) There are lots of errors like "aapt exited with code 1" that means there is some bad character in image or in files like -.... or files starts with number.

Also sometimes out of memory exception when loading images larger then 1mb or in android 4.2 larger than 300kb, even going lover to 100kb having problems in 4.2 android.

Proper editor for Xamarin.Forms is a must have if you want to develop. You can't see the design what you are doing with vs 2015.

Also designer is crashing all the time if i open multiple times and make some adjustments.

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#65

Post by DevInPainNeo »

The Xamarin needs to develop easy controls, documentation and customization should be easy.

Had huge pain in full screen mode dynamically for all the devices.

Calendar with colors forced me to create a new custom control from 0.

To be stable with the controls if you make a tab control in one version should be the same in other versions also, not reinvent and change the wheel.

Easy and clear documentation. Forums all with lots of no one cares why it works int works on my machine stuff.

To new technology and has to get mature and stable. If you are not in the same versions of Xamarin in mac and windows it just not works properly.

Proper error message. I am getting an error like There were deployment errors. Continue. (Not run in administrative mode the vs 2015, closing the emulator or it was opened by other vs before, or you closed the emulator before finished the deploy) There are lots of errors like "aapt exited with code 1" that means there is some bad character in image or in files like -.... or files starts with number.

Also sometimes out of memory exception when loading images larger then 1mb or in android 4.2 larger than 300kb, even going lover to 100kb having problems in 4.2 android.

Proper editor for Xamarin.Forms is a must have if you want to develop. You can't see the design what you are doing with vs 2015.

Also designer is crashing all the time if i open multiple times and make some adjustments.

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#66

Post by lanestp »

king_magic wrote: post #56
lanestp wrote: post #35

I've been extremely disappointed in Xamarin. The main issue is that you don't really get code sharing. I would estimate that only 25% of the Xamarin project I manage is cross platform code. The rest is this bizarre merger of native APIs with C#. It's difficult to write because of the lack of examples and documentation. It's also buggy, even with simple things like page views. The real problem is that I can write a na…

I've had completely the opposite experience. Have worked on several medium-to-very large Xamarin projects (4 developers up to 60 developers) and rarely have I seen code sharing drop below 50%, with the sweet spot being around 60%. 2 years ago, Xamarin was buggy as hell. Today, (IMHO) it's quite stable. Edit: downvoted for sharing my experience? Stay classy, HN.

Can you elaborate on what kind of apps are you developing and where you are getting good reuse? My apps are generally heavy on the UI and moderate data and I'm wondering where the sweet spot is.

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#67

Post by jordache »

jmkni wrote: post #19

I am using Xamarin.Android currently for a project, and I really like it. One thing I love is that because it maps so closely to native Android development, you don't need to look specifically for Xamarin.Android tutorials/SO Answers/blog posts etc to learn how to do something. Most of the time, information targeted towards native Android development will apply to Xamarin.Android also, and you can basically map examp…

It maps closely to android development? Then how is that a good soln for cross platform Dev?

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#68

Post by bobbygoodlatte »

You might want to look into Exponent. They're a YC startup that build a framework on top of React Native. https://getexponent.com/

The team is made up of a few React core devs and some ex-FB folks. They actually helped organize the last official React conf. The scope of what can be built using Exponent is expanding rapidly. And you can build apps that are virtually indistinguishable from Swift/Java apps.

If you want an example, I'd encourage you to download the Android version of this app: https://li.st/

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#69

Post by FlyingSnake »

ceeK wrote: post #62
FlyingSnake wrote: post #61

iOS developer with multiple years of experience of burning fingers in cross-platform development here. I've tried Cordova/Ionic, Xamarin, Dropbox Djinni, and native iOS development. C++ is the closest I've got the a performant cross-platform solution, even though it go it's own quirks. The problem with Xamarin is it'll always play second fiddle to quick moving targets of Android and iOS toolchains. In my case the Rea…

Thanks for the input. I do feel more and more that cross-Platform is a illusion like you say. I already know Swift. Do you think Kotlin would a better transition into Android than straight up Java?

Kotlin is a breeze compared to Java, and it's conceptually similar to Swift (syntax, null safety, type inference etc). I love Kotlin but it's not with it's own quirks.

I would love to see a true cross-platform solution, but honestly it's a dead end in my experience. I would say C++ comes close, but I wouldn't be surprised if people feel unwelcome due to it's syntax and quirks.

Re: Ask HN: Is Xamarin worth learning?

#70

Post by AlwaysRock »

This is different than your circumstance but back when I was recruiting I helped a Xamarin developer with no professional experience find a gig with a 95K base salary. It's currently niche enough that people are willing to pay top dollar for anyone who can actually work in it. Another Xamarin developer I know consults for 150 an hour. (Although he's probably one of if not the best xamarin guy in Chicago)
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