A Guide to Adding Xamarin Support to Visual Studio 2019

Introduction

As a developer, you may have stumbled upon the term Xamarin at some point. If you’re looking to build cross-platform mobile apps, Xamarin is a must-have tool that you can’t afford to overlook. Using C#, the platform allows developers to create high-quality mobile applications that work seamlessly on both iOS and Android.

Understanding Xamarin

Xamarin is an open-source cross-platform development platform that enables developers to develop mobile applications. This tool allows developers to create native apps for iOS, Android, and Windows platforms by using a single shared source codebase written in C#. With Xamarin, developers can share up to 95% of the app’s code across various platforms, reducing development time and costs significantly.

Adding Xamarin to Visual Studio 2019

Step 1: Installing Visual Studio

The first step is to install Visual Studio 2019. Head over to the official Visual Studio download page to install it. Remember to select the Xamarin option while installing Visual Studio.

Step 2: Installing Android Emulator

To test your Android app, you will need an Android emulator. The Android emulator enables you to test your Android apps without requiring access to physical devices. Here are the steps to install an Android emulator:

1. In Visual Studio, open the Android SDK Manager. (Click on Tools > Android > Android SDK Manager)
2. Install the Android SDK Platform if you haven’t already.
3. Install the Android Emulator.
4. Install everything under the Tools tab.

Step 3: Creating a Xamarin Project

After installing Visual Studio 2019 and the Android emulator, you can create a new Xamarin project by following the steps below:

1. Open Visual Studio and click on “Create a new project”
2. Select “Mobile App(Xamarin.forms)”
3. Choose “Blank” and “Android” in the next dialog.
4. Give your project a name and select a suitable location.
5. Click on “Create.”

Once you create your Xamarin project, Visual Studio will automatically generate a skeleton code containing basic XAML and C# files.

Step 4: Running Your App

After creating your Xamarin project, you can run the app on the Android emulator or a physical device. Here are the steps to run your app:

1. In Visual Studio, select the Android emulator device from the drop-down menu (upper left corner).
2. Click on the “Start” button to build and deploy your app to the emulator.
3. Once the app launches on the emulator, you can test it and make any necessary changes

Conclusion

Xamarin is an excellent tool that enables developers to build high-quality mobile applications across multiple platforms using a single codebase. With Xamarin, the development process becomes smoother, faster, and cost-effective, emphasizing code reusability. So, if you’re a developer looking to build quality cross-platform mobile applications, we highly recommend you use Xamarin with Visual Studio 2019. Happy coding!