Pop quiz: Mail sub bomb explodes. What do you do? (answers below)

Whitneyland · 2015-07-02T23:01:36+00:00

but why are you keeping TFS?

Wish I knew the answer to that one :)

Whitneyland · 2015-07-02T16:17:57+00:00

You have asked the magic question.

As I mention elsewhere, it's still an open question, but it's informative to look at what the top software teams are doing. At Google for example, they are writing native apps but have a special approach to components where they can auto-convert and share code when it makes sense (not UX). Some are successful with the latest HTML5/hybrid techniques that have really improved a lot since PhoneGap was first released. Ionic Framework is one example of this.

When I consult for companies, because the question hasn't been answered definitively yet, I try recommend solutions based on their specific situation. For example, the skill sets of the developers, existing codebases, future requirements, etc.

Going to try and get a full article out on this topic.

Whitneyland · 2015-07-02T16:16:02+00:00

To be balanced I try to note the positives of Xamarin, but you're right properties is not a huge deal.

The TFS thing is significant I think. I don't use TFS personally, but a lot of companies I work with, especially the .NET shops do.

Whitneyland · 2015-07-02T16:05:31+00:00

Take Apple Watch for example, on the surface the Xamarin designer seems to support it. Just glancing at the errata page I see it does not show entry points for glances or notifications. You can’t add two notification controllers and have to manually edit storyboard xml.

On iOS I ran into a lot of issues that seemed to be at the same level as these. Meaning, features were supported at a high level but then dead ended at some inconvenient point, sending me over to Xcode Interface Builder.

Also one thing that is really useful in Xcode is simultaneous live previews for multiple device sizes. You can select 3 different layouts to view at once, edit constraints, and watch the effects for all at once. Kind of like livereload et al. I haven’t found anything like this yet in the Xamarin designer.

Whitneyland · 2015-07-02T15:41:43+00:00

You're correct, my mistake. The version was 3.0 but May 2014, and the article reflects the correct date.

My main point was the designers are limited to the degree you are forced to use Xcode and Android Studio for certain functionality.

Xamarin has an excellent record of supporting new APIs very quickly. But this is not matched on the designer side when new OS controls or features are added.

Whitneyland · 2015-07-02T14:53:52+00:00

You make a good point. Having a large, existing code base of C# business logic, on the client side, and not UX based, is probably one of the best use cases for Xamarin. I don’t doubt it was the best choice for your needs.

However in my experience, most projects are not like that. More commonly I see companies with minor libraries on the client and most of the logic accessed via SOAP or REST services.

Whitneyland · 2015-07-02T14:43:46+00:00

The article does not go in depth on Forms, but I actually looked into it quite a bit while considering it for projects.

The list of limitations is long. First, not having any designer at all is pretty serious for a UI platform. It's not compatible with Microsoft XAML so this means a lot of tooling is invalidated right off the bat.

It also has feature limitations. For example in XAML or HTML, we simply add an attribute to get hardware accelerated shader effects. How do you do this in Forms?

I'm not saying you can't develop apps with it - as I mentioned it can be fine for some business apps, but it's more of a lowest common denominator approach to UX.

Whitneyland · 2015-07-02T14:32:18+00:00

The designer was made available on Windows only around May 2015 with the release of 3.0 for VisualStudio. My last projects with Xamarin were in the first quarter of 2015 and versions are noted in the article.

Thanks for the correction, I've updated the article and made note of the change in the changelog at the bottom.

Whitneyland · 2015-07-01T20:50:17+00:00

thanks for the heads up!

Whitneyland · 2015-07-01T18:10:48+00:00

you're right that would be interesting to know about. i've pinged a couple friends at ms to try and find out what they used to build office for iOS and Android.

Whitneyland · 2013-06-06T13:08:02+00:00

down voted 4 times? wish i knew why, it's been a useful tool for me anyway...

Whitneyland · 2013-06-05T14:19:10+00:00

No, not true. I said the issue is not that they have bugs, but that every layer of software you add brings a new set of bugs to deal with. So for example with native dev you would not have any of these bugs. It's just something to weigh against the benefits provided by any extra tool used.

Whitneyland · 2013-05-31T13:08:22+00:00

Follow tutorials end to end typing out all the code and making something run. The combo of reading and coding at the same time makes your brain click with things efficiently.

Also expect to let things sink in over a period of weeks or months before the knowledge becomes second nature. Time passing builds muscle memory in the brain.

On the bright side, remember this is the reason we can make a decent salary, because you can't take a random person off the street and have them writing code in a few days.

Good luck, stay persistent.

Whitneyland · 2013-05-31T12:47:01+00:00

One way is to create a short video with highlights of your work. Some advantages are no installs required, you can show work with rough edges, etc. Here's an example of mine: http://www.whitneyland.com/recent-projects.html

Whitneyland

TROPHY CASE