Xamarin partnerships with Microsoft to let developers build iOS and Android applications in Visual Studio. Xamarin University teaches developers how to do that.
Xamarin has announced today a partnership with Microsoft to provide up-to-date support for developers working in C# and Visual Studio to build fully native cross platform mobile applications that run on iOS, Android, beside Windows which is already supported. The agreement covers the following aspects:
- Xamarin is to collaborate with Microsoft to better integrate their technology into MS developer tools and services. Xamarin is one of the VS 2013 SimShim partners, releasing an integrated version of their tools the same day Microsoft releases Visual Studio. Xamarin now includes Microsoft Portable Class Libraries which initially had a restriction to be used only on Windows, but that restriction was recently lifted.
- The recently launched Xamarin University will be available for free for a limited number of MSDN subscribers. The online school’s training courses teach developers how to create cross platform mobile apps for iOS and Android.
- MSDN subscribers will also have special pricing for Xamarin subscriptions.
We asked Xamarin if they intend to extend their cooperation with Microsoft in this area. Nat Friedman, Xamarin CEO and cofounder, said they are working on that but did not provide details at this time:
We’re working closely with Microsoft to make it easier than ever to build native Windows, Android and iOS apps in Visual Studio, giving the best possible development experience to developers who are increasingly going mobile. We’re in deep discussions with Microsoft to align roadmaps and will have more information on future integration at a later date.
The Xamarin University will have for beginning two 1-month courses starting in January and February 2014 with the following curriculum:
- iOS and Android Fundamentals
- The Mobile App Lifecycle
- Native UI and Controls
- Cross-platform Architecture
- Mobile Best Practices
- Secure Backend Integration
- Advanced topics such as memory management best practices
The training includes over 20 hours of live online classes with experts from Xamarin, 2 hours of one-to-one coaching with a mobile developer, on demand videos, tutorials, labs, and code samples, and a dedicated forum. The seats are limited.