This document summarizes options for building native mobile applications using Visual Studio 2015. It discusses tools for developing apps for platforms like iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. Key frameworks mentioned include Apache Cordova, which allows developing mobile apps using web technologies, and Xamarin, which enables sharing code across platforms while creating fully native apps. The document also includes a demo of creating a basic app using Apache Cordova and discusses advantages and limitations of various approaches.

1. Building Native
“apps” with Visual
Studio 2015
Central Penn .NET code camp 2015
Michael Melusky @mrjavascript

2. About the speaker
• Michael Melusky
 Software Engineer for Audacious Inquiry in Baltimore, MD
 Instructor at Pennsylvania State University, Franklin & Marshall College, and ITT
Technical Institute
 Regular speaker at the Java and .NET user group meetings and code camps

3. Devices for Native “apps”
• Devices to target:
 Microsoft Windows Phone
 Apple iPhone
 Android Devices
 Android Phones
 Android Tables
 Amazon Fire TV
 Other Apple Devices
 Apple iPad
 Apple Watch

4. When Developing for Apple iOS
• Xcode
• JetBrains “AppCode”
• Both applications can be used to build “apps” using either Swift of Objective-
C

5. When Developing for Android
• Any Java development tool suite of your choice:
 Eclipse
 JetBrains IntellJ
• Google Dart?
• Jetbrains Kotlin?

6. When Developing for Windows Phone
• Microsoft Visual Studio with C#

7. Unifying Development of Platforms?
• Native App Development
• Unity Framework
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2015
 Apache Cordova
 Xamarin

8. Apache Cordova
• Previously referred to as “PhoneGap”
• enables software programmers to build applications for mobile devices using
JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3, instead of relying on platform-specific APIs
like those in Android, iOS, or Windows Phone

9. Apache Cordova Time
• ** DEMO **

10. Features of Apache Cordova

11. Issues with Apache Cordova
• StackOverflow.com Developer Survey 2015

12. Why use Apache Cordova?
• Want to share more UI between platforms, with fewer native looking
elements.
• Share UI assets with a mobile website
• Have HTML / JS developers
• Are OK with a somewhat less smooth UI on older Android and iOS devices,
or don’t plan on supporting older Android (pre 4.2)

13. Other Options?
• Xamarin
 Need to do apps with less shared UI, more shared logic.
 Have .Net developers
 Need a high performing, native looking app

14. Xamarin
• Native User Interfaces
• Xamarin apps are built with standard, native user interface controls. Apps
not only look the way the end user expects, they behave that way too
• Native API Access
• Xamarin apps have access to the full spectrum of functionality exposed by
the underlying platform and device, including platform-specific capabilities
like iBeacons and Android Fragments
• Native Performance
• Xamarin apps leverage platform-specific hardware acceleration, and are
compiled for native performance. This can’t be achieved with solutions that
interpret code at runtime

15. Xamarin Code Time
• ** DEMO **

16. Questions?
• @mrjavascript (Twitter/SlideShare)