Great news. My company uses Xamarin. It's already a good tool, but I would love having better support. In the current environment, it's a no-brainer: why write the same app in two different languages when you can just do it once?
Xamarin is supported in the Visual Studio 2015 installer, so no, this is not about getting rid of a competitor but to broaden their cross platform portfolio.
So, the dream of developer platform lockup is now dead at M$, the new hope is to shove lousy, slow running C# MS API programs into other platforms...
Slow and inefficient C# core running against the horrendous MS APIs - hardly a winning combination. Thanks, I'll stick to Qt and C++, a much lesser, more mature and way more efficiently running evil...
And no, it is about eliminating competition, they could easily port their APIs to other platforms without purchasing Xamarin, and it would cost less.
+ddriver your correct that C# along with every other modern language out there (Java, Python, etc) is slightly slower at computing than C++, however the benefits to using a modern language is several orders of magnitude QUICKER development time. Not only this, but modern languages are so fast now-a-days that you don't need C++ for the majority of tasks. You are living in your comfortable, albeit slow (developmentally speaking) world of C++, for the rest of us this means using a high-level language that we can code the entire application in with less time used for development. My company just completed their mobile app for iOS and Android using Xamarin Forms and we had a shared code project that consisted of 14,000 lines of code, then in the platform specific projects (one for iOS and one for Android) we had 600-800 lines of code each. The total development time for this project was 3 months, we saved at least that much and our app is running as native code on both environments with all the performance benefits that come with it. Now with Microsoft behind it, this technology will see a higher adoption and using Xamarin Forms specifically, make it easy for developers to target the Universal Windows Platform, hopefully bringing more quality apps to the Windows 10 store. This is a win for Microsoft and for all C# developers out there that appreciate being able to complete a project in a timely manner, unlike the ridiculously slow development time it takes to write ANYTHING in C++.
So, about two decades after being rejected by Microsoft after a job interview, Miguel de Icaza is finally able to follow his dream and has a job at Microsoft! Amazing! :-p
Though he has long left the Linux/Free Software world, I am amongst one of the many users who will always have a special place in my heart for de Icaza as the founder of GNOME.
On a side note, what was Attachmate thinking when they laid off all the Mono people? That was probably the only part of Novell that was worth anything at that point. Such corporate shortsightedness.
Pales in comparison to what HP did to Palm. Unlock BBOS and Windows Phone, and many others of the WebOS era such as Symbian, only only needs to remember is android v1.0 was on one phone and didn't even support touch screen, iOS just got copy and paste functionality and was still incredibly simple, and RIM was showing its age and we all know what happened.
WebOS could have a third of the market right now, but HP completely destroyed Palm. They didn't fix the hardware, they didn't support developers, and basically they Apotheker (CEO) didn't take mobile seriously at the precise moment when EVERYONE was starting to take mobile seriously.
I'm hoping this means that Xamarin's tools will now be included with Visual Studio, without paying for the additional license. The cost was a serious issue for smaller projects/companies.
Because it would increase their reach into non-Microsoft OS's. Also once there those users might decide that actually switching to a Microsoft OS would be better.
Also if they do include them in the community then they'd increase the number of developers using MS tools, which can then lead to potential more sales of those tools and their OS's.
i.e. there are a number of secondary long term gains that could be had by making the entry free/low.
They also don't *need* the raw money now...so I'd imagine that for the 2017 or 2018 version this is exactly what happens, the license fee is scrapped.
Because if you write all your apps in C#... It isn't that much harder to write a Universal App - which microsoft need many more of.
If you write in java or swift on the other hand ... it is a bit of a paradigm jump. Even if the languages have similarities.
C# could use a wider embrace. I told a colleague I was going to learn c# and there response was.. "Why limit yourself to Windows?" It would be nice to limit myself to Windows +mobile
There are already better solutions if you want to write portable software. C# performance is even slower than Java, and MS APIs are as ugly as it gets.
There would only be benefit to C# programmers, who have long been writing for windows. But while there are certainly plenty of those, most of them are hopelessly stuck in the "windows applications" paradigm, making it very unlikely for them to be productive
+ddriver again, your writing about things your not quit up to speed on, if C# is slower than Java, why does Android run faster when the code is ported to C#? https://blog.xamarin.com/android-in-c-sharp/ Check that link out, you might be surprised. The APIs you refer to are actually quite nice to use and facilitate faster development cycles, something that C++ for the most part, does not. Enjoy your speedy, if a bit antiquated, C++ and let us C# developers enjoy this win for faster development of native mobile applications.
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estarkey7 - Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - link
Awesome! I have used this platform in the past, and this is a great move by team Microsoft!DB_ERROR_TABLE_NAME - Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - link
Great news. My company uses Xamarin. It's already a good tool, but I would love having better support. In the current environment, it's a no-brainer: why write the same app in two different languages when you can just do it once?ddriver - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
Yeah, microsoft will buy it and it will get better... right.They even ruin stuff they buy not to eliminate as a competitor.
DesktopMan - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
Xamarin is supported in the Visual Studio 2015 installer, so no, this is not about getting rid of a competitor but to broaden their cross platform portfolio.ddriver - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
So, the dream of developer platform lockup is now dead at M$, the new hope is to shove lousy, slow running C# MS API programs into other platforms...Slow and inefficient C# core running against the horrendous MS APIs - hardly a winning combination. Thanks, I'll stick to Qt and C++, a much lesser, more mature and way more efficiently running evil...
And no, it is about eliminating competition, they could easily port their APIs to other platforms without purchasing Xamarin, and it would cost less.
WaitingForNehalem - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
you don't know what you're talking aboutsseemaku - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
The summary of what you have written is 'I don't know nothing about Xamarin'YazX_ - Friday, February 26, 2016 - link
i couldn't resist but to reply, as said by WaitingForNehalem , you don't know what you're talking about.[email protected] - Tuesday, March 1, 2016 - link
+ddriver your correct that C# along with every other modern language out there (Java, Python, etc) is slightly slower at computing than C++, however the benefits to using a modern language is several orders of magnitude QUICKER development time. Not only this, but modern languages are so fast now-a-days that you don't need C++ for the majority of tasks. You are living in your comfortable, albeit slow (developmentally speaking) world of C++, for the rest of us this means using a high-level language that we can code the entire application in with less time used for development. My company just completed their mobile app for iOS and Android using Xamarin Forms and we had a shared code project that consisted of 14,000 lines of code, then in the platform specific projects (one for iOS and one for Android) we had 600-800 lines of code each. The total development time for this project was 3 months, we saved at least that much and our app is running as native code on both environments with all the performance benefits that come with it. Now with Microsoft behind it, this technology will see a higher adoption and using Xamarin Forms specifically, make it easy for developers to target the Universal Windows Platform, hopefully bringing more quality apps to the Windows 10 store. This is a win for Microsoft and for all C# developers out there that appreciate being able to complete a project in a timely manner, unlike the ridiculously slow development time it takes to write ANYTHING in C++.aryonoco - Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - link
So, about two decades after being rejected by Microsoft after a job interview, Miguel de Icaza is finally able to follow his dream and has a job at Microsoft! Amazing! :-pThough he has long left the Linux/Free Software world, I am amongst one of the many users who will always have a special place in my heart for de Icaza as the founder of GNOME.
On a side note, what was Attachmate thinking when they laid off all the Mono people? That was probably the only part of Novell that was worth anything at that point. Such corporate shortsightedness.
Samus - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
Pales in comparison to what HP did to Palm. Unlock BBOS and Windows Phone, and many others of the WebOS era such as Symbian, only only needs to remember is android v1.0 was on one phone and didn't even support touch screen, iOS just got copy and paste functionality and was still incredibly simple, and RIM was showing its age and we all know what happened.WebOS could have a third of the market right now, but HP completely destroyed Palm. They didn't fix the hardware, they didn't support developers, and basically they Apotheker (CEO) didn't take mobile seriously at the precise moment when EVERYONE was starting to take mobile seriously.
Samus - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
Unlike*Flunk - Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - link
I'm hoping this means that Xamarin's tools will now be included with Visual Studio, without paying for the additional license. The cost was a serious issue for smaller projects/companies.vladx - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
Why would they pull a move that'd make the entire new division unprofitable?cjb110 - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
Because it would increase their reach into non-Microsoft OS's.Also once there those users might decide that actually switching to a Microsoft OS would be better.
Also if they do include them in the community then they'd increase the number of developers using MS tools, which can then lead to potential more sales of those tools and their OS's.
i.e. there are a number of secondary long term gains that could be had by making the entry free/low.
They also don't *need* the raw money now...so I'd imagine that for the 2017 or 2018 version this is exactly what happens, the license fee is scrapped.
doggface - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
Because if you write all your apps in C#... It isn't that much harder to write a Universal App - which microsoft need many more of.If you write in java or swift on the other hand ... it is a bit of a paradigm jump. Even if the languages have similarities.
C# could use a wider embrace. I told a colleague I was going to learn c# and there response was.. "Why limit yourself to Windows?" It would be nice to limit myself to Windows +mobile
ddriver - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
There are already better solutions if you want to write portable software. C# performance is even slower than Java, and MS APIs are as ugly as it gets.There would only be benefit to C# programmers, who have long been writing for windows. But while there are certainly plenty of those, most of them are hopelessly stuck in the "windows applications" paradigm, making it very unlikely for them to be productive
ddriver - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
...when targeting mobile platforms.Friendly0Fire - Friday, February 26, 2016 - link
"C# performance is even slower than Java, and MS APIs are as ugly as it gets."... What? Sounds like you're a bit lost here mate.
[email protected] - Tuesday, March 1, 2016 - link
+ddriver again, your writing about things your not quit up to speed on, if C# is slower than Java, why does Android run faster when the code is ported to C#? https://blog.xamarin.com/android-in-c-sharp/ Check that link out, you might be surprised. The APIs you refer to are actually quite nice to use and facilitate faster development cycles, something that C++ for the most part, does not. Enjoy your speedy, if a bit antiquated, C++ and let us C# developers enjoy this win for faster development of native mobile applications.atirado - Thursday, February 25, 2016 - link
Really looking forward to targeting iOS, Android, Mac and Linux (?).