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    Mastering Xamarin.Forms
    Mastering Xamarin.Forms
    Mastering Xamarin.Forms
    Ebook328 pages2 hours

    Mastering Xamarin.Forms

    By Snider Ed

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    About this ebook

    Build rich, maintainable multiplatform native mobile apps with Xamarin.Forms

    About This Book

    - Build an effective mobile app architecture with the Xamarin.Forms toolkit
    - Maximize the testability, flexibility, and overall quality of your Xamarin.Forms mobile app
    - This step-by-step tutorial is packed with real-world scenarios and solutions to build professional grade mobile apps with Xamarin.Forms

    Who This Book Is For

    This book is intended for C# developers who are familiar with the Xamarin platform and the Xamarin.Forms toolkit. If you have already started working with Xamarin.Forms and want to take your app to the next level and make it more maintainable, testable, and flexible, then this book is for you.

    What You Will Learn

    - Find out how, when, and why you should use architecture patterns and get best practices with Xamarin.Forms
    - Implement the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) pattern and data-binding in Xamarin.Forms mobile apps
    - Extend the Xamarin.Forms navigation API with a custom ViewModel-centric navigation service
    - Leverage the inversion of control and dependency injection patterns in Xamarin.Forms mobile apps
    - Work with online and offline data in Xamarin.Forms mobile apps
    - Test both business logic and user interface code in Xamarin.Forms mobile apps
    - Use platform-specific APIs to build rich custom user interfaces in Xamarin.Forms mobile apps
    - Explore how to improve mobile app quality with analytics and crash reporting using Xamarin Insights

    In Detail

    Discover how to extend and build upon the components of the Xamarin.Forms toolkit to develop an effective, robust mobile app architecture. Starting with an app built with the basics of the Xamarin.Forms toolkit, we’ll go step by step through several advanced topics to create a solution architecture rich with the benefits of good design patterns and best practices.
    We’ll start by introducing a core separation between the app’s user interface and the app’s business logic by applying the MVVM pattern and data binding.
    Discover how to extend and build upon the components of the Xamarin.Forms toolkit to develop an effective, robust mobile app architecture. Starting with an app built with the basics of the Xamarin.Forms toolkit, we’ll go step by step through several advanced topics to create a solution architecture rich with the benefits of good design patterns and best practices.
    We’ll start by introducing a core separation between the app’s user interface and the app’s business logic by applying the MVVM pattern and data binding.
    Then we will focus on building out a layer of plugin-like services that handle platform-specific utilities such as navigation, geo-location, and the camera, as well as how to use these services with inversion of control and dependency injection. Next we’ll connect the app to a live web-based API and set up offline synchronization. Then, we’ll dive into testing the app—both the app logic through unit tests and the user interface using Xamarin’s UITest framework. Finally, we’ll integrate Xamarin Insights for monitoring usage and bugs to gain a proactive edge on app quality.

    Style and approach

    This easy-to-follow, code-rich guide will walk you through building a real-world Xamarin.Forms mobile app from start to finish. Each chapter builds upon the app by applying new advanced functionalities, design patterns, and best practices.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPackt Publishing
    Release dateJan 30, 2016
    ISBN9781785284946
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      Book preview

      Mastering Xamarin.Forms - Snider Ed

      Table of Contents

      Mastering Xamarin.Forms

      Credits

      About the Author

      Acknowledgments

      About the Reviewers

      www.PacktPub.com

      Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more

      Why subscribe?

      Free access for Packt account holders

      Preface

      What this book covers

      What you need for this book

      Who this book is for

      Conventions

      Reader feedback

      Customer support

      Downloading the example code

      Downloading the color images of this book

      Errata

      Piracy

      Questions

      Sources

      1. Getting Started

      Introducing the app idea

      Defining features

      Creating the initial app

      Setting up the solution

      Updating the Xamarin.Forms packages

      Creating the main page

      Running the app

      Creating the new entry page

      Creating the entry detail page

      Summary

      2. MVVM and Data Binding

      Understanding the MVVM pattern

      Adding MVVM to the app

      Setting up the app structure

      Adding ViewModels

      Adding MainViewModel

      Adding DetailViewModel

      Adding NewEntryViewModel

      Summary

      3. Navigation Service

      The Xamarin.Forms navigation API

      Navigation and MVVM

      ViewModel-centric navigation

      Creating a navigation service

      Updating the TripLog app

      Updating BaseViewModel

      Updating MainViewModel

      Initializing MainViewModel

      Updating NewEntryViewModel

      Updating DetailPage

      Summary

      4. Platform Specific Services and Dependency Injection

      Inversion of control and dependency injection in mobile apps

      The Xamarin.Forms DependencyService versus third-party alternatives

      Creating and using platform-specific services

      Creating a location service

      Using the location service on the new entry page

      Adding the location service implementation

      Registering dependencies

      Registering the platform-service implementations

      Registering the ViewModels

      Registering the navigation service

      Updating the TripLog app

      Updating the navigation service to handle ViewModel creation and dependency injection

      Summary

      5. User Interface

      Custom Renderers

      Creating a TableView DatePicker

      Value Converters

      Creating a reverse visibility Value Converter

      Creating an integer to image Value Converter

      Summary

      6. API Data Access

      Creating an API with Microsoft Azure App Services

      Browsing and adding data

      Creating a base HTTP service

      Creating an API Data Service

      Updating the TripLog app ViewModels

      Offline data caching

      Adding the Akavache library

      Maintaining an offline data cache

      Summary

      7. Authentication

      Adding identity and authentication to Azure Mobile Apps

      Setting up permissions

      Setting up an identity provider

      Creating an authentication service

      Adding a sign in page

      Summary

      8. Testing

      Unit testing

      Testing ViewModels

      Running unit tests in Xamarin Studio

      Automated UI testing

      The Xamarin UITest framework

      Common UITest methods

      Creating a UITest project in Xamarin Studio

      Initializing the TripLog app for UITest

      Testing views

      Running UI tests

      Running UI tests locally

      Enabling screenshots

      Running UI tests in Xamarin Test Cloud

      Summary

      9. App Analytics

      Mobile app analytics and crash reporting

      Xamarin Insights

      Setting up Xamarin Insights

      Creating an analytics service

      Tracking exceptions and events

      Summary

      Index

      Mastering Xamarin.Forms

      Mastering Xamarin.Forms

      Copyright © 2016 Packt Publishing

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

      Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

      Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

      First published: January 2016

      Production reference: 1250116

      Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

      Livery Place

      35 Livery Street

      Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

      ISBN 978-1-78528-719-0

      www.packtpub.com

      Credits

      Author

      Ed Snider

      Reviewers

      M.I. Isham Mohamed

      Vaikesh K P

      Commissioning Editor

      Dipika Gaonkar

      Acquisition Editor

      Tushar Gupta

      Content Development Editor

      Rashmi Suvarna

      Technical Editor

      Murtaza Tinwala

      Copy Editor

      Vatsal Surti

      Project Coordinator

      Judie Jose

      Proofreader

      Safis Editing

      Indexer

      Rekha Nair

      Production Coordinator

      Manu Joseph

      Cover Work

      Manu Joseph

      About the Author

      Ed Snider is a senior software engineer, speaker, and Xamarin MVP based in the Washington DC/Northern Virginia area. He has a passion for mobile design and development and regularly speaks about Xamarin and Windows app development at local user groups and community events. Ed is also the founder and organizer of the DC and Northern Virginia Mobile .NET Developers Groups. Ed works at InfernoRed Technology, where his primary role is working with clients and partners to build awesome mobile solutions on the iOS, Android, and Windows platforms. He's been coding for over half of his life, starting out by working part time in high school updating the local newspaper's website and building web apps for small businesses in his hometown. For the first few years of his career as a software developer, Ed worked with Cold Fusion to build dynamic web applications and e-commerce solutions. He started working with the .NET framework when .NET 2.0 came out, building enterprise software with WinForms and ASP.NET, and eventually got into SharePoint solution architecture and development for large federal organizations.

      For the past several years, Ed has been focused on building mobile apps with .NET for Windows, iOS, and Android using Xamarin. Ed blogs at www.edsnider.net and can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/edsnider.

      Acknowledgments

      I would like to acknowledge the many people without whom this book would not have been possible.

      First and foremost, I want to thank my parents, my wife Kelly, and my two daughters, Camden and Colby, for their loving support, encouragement, and enthusiasm.

      Many thanks to Scott Lock, Art Lucia, Josh Blanchard, and all my amazing colleagues at InfernoRed Technology for always inspiring me to learn more and improve myself.

      Special thanks to the awesome team at Xamarin, especially Joseph Hill, James Montemagno, Jayme Singleton, Krystin Stutesman, and Spencer Montgomery for their ongoing community support and partnership.

      I can't thank the wonderful people at Packt enough for everything they have done to make this book a reality. Thank you Rashmi Suvarna, Tushar Gupta, and Murtaza Tinwala for all your support and patience.

      And last but not least, thank you dear reader—I hope you enjoy this book!

      About the Reviewers

      M.I. Isham Mohamed is a software engineer from Sri Lanka who works for IFS. He was one of the student ambassador for Xamarin. He has given talks on technologies such as Angular JS, C#, .NET, Xamarin, and Microsoft Azure.

      I would like to thank my family. They gave me time to work on this book once I returned from work.

      Vaikesh K P is a writer, speaker, daydreamer, and a deep lover of C#. After completing his degree at College of Applied Science, Neruvambram, he started his adventure in the programming career as a software developer for Dimind Innovations. He entered the world of Xamarin through Mono, understanding that the future was going to be smart with mobiles, wearables, and goggles. He moved to Mazsoft Technologies as a .NET/ Xamarin developer, gaining hands-on experience in C#, ASP.Net, XAML, SQLite, MVVM, and MVC, and started creating cool applications for stores. His keen interest in sharing knowledge got him listed as one of the best authors of C# Corner. He believes knowledge is precious and it can be gained only by sharing, which makes him a common participator in tech forums.

      www.PacktPub.com

      Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more

      For support files and downloads related to your book, please visit www.PacktPub.com.

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      Preface

      Xamarin released the Xamarin.Forms toolkit in the summer of 2014, and it has since become a very popular framework for .NET mobile app developers. On the surface, Xamarin.Forms is a user interface toolkit focused on abstracting the platform-specific UI APIs of iOS, Android, and Windows into a single easy-to-use set of APIs. In addition, Xamarin.Forms also provides the common components of a Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) framework, making it extremely easy and intuitive to bind data to a user interface.

      Xamarin.Forms comes with several building blocks that are paramount to a solid mobile app architecture, such as dependency injection and inversion of control, messaging, and navigation. However, many apps will quickly outgrow these in the box capabilities and require the use of more advanced and sophisticated replacements. This book will show you how to leverage the strengths of the Xamarin.Forms toolkit while complementing it with popular patterns and libraries to achieve a more robust and sustainable app architecture.

      As with any framework or toolkit, there are specific scenarios that it makes more sense for than others. Xamarin has done a great job of providing guidance and recommendations on when the use of Xamarin.Forms is appropriate versus when it might be a better decision to use the core Xamarin platform. Once you have made the decision to use Xamarin.Forms, this book will help guide you through using patterns and best practices with your Xamarin.Forms mobile app by walking you through an end-to-end example.

      What this book covers

      Chapter 1, Getting Started, will start off by quickly reviewing the basics of the Xamarin.Forms toolkit. We will then walk through building a simple app with Xamarin.Forms, called TripLog. The TripLog app will serve as the foundation that we build upon throughout the rest of the book by applying new techniques and concepts in each subsequent chapter.

      Chapter 2, MVVM and Data Binding, will introduce the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) pattern and the benefits of using it in a mobile app architecture. We will then walk through updating the TripLog app with ViewModels that provide data for the app's pages through data binding.

      Chapter 3, Navigation Service, will explain how navigation works in Xamarin.Forms, some of its shortcomings, and how to overcome them. We will build a custom navigation service for the TripLog app that extends the one provided by Xamarin.Forms to provide a navigation model that occurs solely at the ViewModel level, decoupled from the pages themselves.

      Chapter 4, Platform Specific Services and Dependency Injection, will discuss the power of the dependency injection and Inversion of Control (IoC) patterns, specific to multi-platform mobile development. We will discuss how to use a third-party IoC library within the TripLog app, in the place of Xamarin.Forms's default DependencyService. We will then build a couple of services that are dependent on platform-specific APIs and use them within the TripLog app through dependency injection.

      Chapter 5, User Interface, will explain how to tap into platform-specific APIs using custom renderers in Xamarin.Forms. We will also discuss the use of value converters to customize the appearance of data at the time of binding.

      Chapter 6, API Data Access, will explain how to set up a new API using Microsoft Azure App Services. We will then walk through how to

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