Mastering Xamarin UI Development by Steven F. Daniel

Key FeaturesCreate, configure, and customize stunning platform-specific features as well as cross-platform UIs with the power of Xamarin Forms.Maximize the testability, flexibility, and overall quality of your Xamarin apps.Get the most out of Xamarin.Forms and create your own reusable templates with C# scripting in Xamarin.Book DescriptionXamarin is the most powerful cross-platform mobile development framework. If you are interested in creating stunning user interfaces for the iOS and Android mobile platforms using the power of Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms, then this is your ticket.This book will provide you the practical skills required to develop real-world Xamarin applications. You will learn how to implement UI structures and layouts, create customized elements, and write C# scripts to customize layouts. You will create UI layouts from scratch so that you can tweak and customize a given UI layout to suit your needs by using Data Templates.Moving on, you will use third-party libraries – such as the Razor template engine that allows you to create your own HTML5 templates within the Xamarin environment – to build a book library Hybrid solution that uses the SQLite.Net library to store, update, retrieve, and delete information within a SQLite local database. Youll also implement key data-binding techniques that will make your user interfaces dynamic, and create personalized animations and visual effects within your user interfaces using Custom Renderers and the PlatformEffects API to customize and change the appearance of control elements.At the end of this book, you will test your application UI for robust and consistent behavior and then explore techniques to deploy to different platforms.What you will learnDevelop stunning native cross-platform apps using the Xamarin.Forms frameworkWork with the different UI layouts to create customized layouts using the C# programming language and tweak it for a given platformCustomize the user interface using DataTemplates and CustomRenderers and the Platform Effects API to change the appearance of control elementsBuild hybrid apps using the Razor Template Engine and create Razor Models that communicate with a SQLite databaseUse location based features within your app to display the users current locationWork with the Xamarin.Forms Map control to display Pin placeholders based on the stored latitude and longitude coordinatesUnderstand and use the MVVM pattern architecture to navigate between each of your ViewModels and implement Data Binding to display and update informationWork with the Microsoft Azure Platform to incorporate API Data Access using Microsoft Azure App Services and the RESTful APIIncorporate third-party features within your app using the Facebook SDK and the Open Graph APIPerform unit testing and profile your Xamarin.Forms applicationsDeploy your apps to the Google Play Store and Apple App StoreAbout the AuthorSteven F. Daniel is the CEO and founder of GENIESOFT STUDIOS, a software development company based in Melbourne, Victoria, that focuses primarily on developing games and business applications for the iOS, Android, and Mac OS X platforms. He is an experienced software developer with more than 17 years of experience in developing desktop and web-based applications for several companies and startups. Steven is extremely passionate about making people employable by helping them bridge the gap between using their existing skills in iOS, Android, and Xamarin to get the job done. To achieve this, he writes books to help novice and advanced programmers succeed within the industry. Steven is extremely passionate about, and loves being at the forefront of, technology. He is a member of the SQL Server Special Interest Group (SQLSIG), Melbourne CocoaHeads, and the Java Community. He was the cofounder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at SoftMpire Pty Ltd., a company that is focused primarily on developing business applications for the iOS and Android platforms.Steven is the author of various book titles, some of which are as follows:Apple Watch App DevelopmentAndroid Wearable ProgrammingXcode 4 CookbookiPad Enterprise Application Development BlueprintsiOS 5 EssentialsXcode 4 iOS Development Beginners GuideCheck out his blog at http://www.geniesoftstudios.com/blog/, or follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/GenieSoftStudio.Table of ContentsCreating the TrackMyWalks Native AppMVVM and Data BindingNavigating within the MVVM Model - The Xamarin.Forms WayAdding Location-Based Features within Your AppCustomizing the User InterfaceWorking with Razor TemplatesIncorporating API Data Access Using Microsoft Azure App ServicesMaking Our App Social - Using the Facebook APIUnit Testing Your Xamarin.Forms Apps Using the NUnit and UITest FrameworksPackaging and Deploying Your Xamarin.Forms Applications