9 Xamarin Books That Will Sharpen Your Mobile Development Skills

When Charles Petzold first discovered Xamarin.Forms, he recognized its potential to transform cross-platform mobile development by enabling shared user-interface code in C# and XAML that adapts to native controls on iOS, Android, and Windows phones. Drawing from his 25 years of Windows programming experience, Petzold meticulously explains how to leverage this new platform across 16 focused chapters, including practical guidance on UI composition and platform nuances. If you're aiming to build mobile apps efficiently without sacrificing native look and feel, this book offers concrete insights and examples that demystify Xamarin.Forms' architecture. While it suits developers comfortable with C# and XAML, newcomers to mobile frameworks may find it a challenging yet rewarding resource.

When Charles Petzold first discovered the potential of Xamarin.Forms, he crafted this book to bridge the gap between native mobile development and cross-platform coding. Drawing on over two decades of Windows programming expertise, Petzold guides you through creating mobile apps using C# that run seamlessly on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. You'll delve into practical aspects like UI design, event handling, and platform-specific nuances, with clear examples reflecting his deep understanding of programming architecture. This book suits developers aiming to expand into mobile app development with a strong foundation in C# and those curious about leveraging Xamarin's capabilities without losing native performance.

This personalized Xamarin development book provides a tailored approach to mastering cross-platform mobile app creation using Xamarin and .NET technologies. It focuses on aligning core development principles, UI design techniques, and platform-specific integrations with your unique skill level and project goals. The book offers targeted strategies for efficient code sharing, MVVM architecture implementation, and leveraging Xamarin.Forms and .NET MAUI features. By cutting through generic advice, it delivers a personalized framework that fits your specific context, enabling a more effective and focused learning experience in building robust, maintainable mobile applications across iOS, Android, and Windows.

Unlike most Xamarin books that focus solely on theory, "Xamarin.Forms Projects" delivers a hands-on approach with seven progressively challenging projects. Johan Karlsson and Daniel Hindrikes leverage their expertise to guide you from setting up your development environment to building complex applications, including real-time chat services with Azure SignalR and augmented reality games using UrhoSharp. Through detailed examples like a location tracking app and an image classification app with Azure Cognitive Services, you learn essential skills such as MVVM architecture, data binding, and platform-specific custom renderers. This book suits mobile developers familiar with C# and .NET who want practical experience creating cross-platform apps using Xamarin.Forms.

When Michael Cummings, Daniel Hindrikes, and Johan Karlsson developed .NET MAUI Projects, they focused on bridging the gap between Xamarin.Forms and the evolving .NET ecosystem. This book teaches you how to build multi-platform applications using C#, Visual Studio 2022, and the .NET MAUI framework through practical projects like weather apps, multiplayer games, and machine learning integrations. You'll learn to harness features like Shell for app architecture, CollectionView for UI design, and Azure services for backend support, making it ideal if you want hands-on experience with native app development for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. While it's geared towards developers familiar with C# and Visual Studio, even those transitioning from Xamarin.Forms will find the migration guidance valuable.

Drawing from decades of experience as a Certified Xamarin Developer and Microsoft MVP, Jesse Liberty teams up with Rodrigo Juarez to guide you through building cross-platform applications using C# and .NET MAUI. You’ll learn how to craft native apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac with a single codebase, mastering UI design through XAML and fluent C#. The book dives into practical architecture with the Model-View-ViewModel pattern, unit testing strategies using xUnit and NSubstitute, and integrating your app into the broader .NET ecosystem, including Blazor for web frontends. This is a strong fit if you’re a C# developer eager to extend your skills to modern cross-platform development without juggling multiple languages or frameworks.

This tailored book provides a structured, step-by-step Xamarin learning plan personalized to your experience level and goals. It offers a daily task-driven approach that breaks down Xamarin development into manageable segments, focusing on core concepts like cross-platform UI design, C# integration, and platform-specific optimizations. The personalized framework cuts through generic advice by fitting your unique background and desired outcomes, guiding you through Xamarin.Forms, .NET MAUI essentials, and practical app deployment strategies. By emphasizing implementation and task progression, this book equips you with targeted skills to accelerate your Xamarin proficiency in 30 days, ensuring the content fits your specific development context and learning pace.

Drawing from his extensive experience in cross-platform development, Falko Schindler crafted this guide to simplify Xamarin.Forms for developers at all levels. You gain hands-on exposure through 41 self-contained apps and 264 extracted code snippets that you can compile and experiment with directly. The book’s practical approach, including free GitHub access to full source code and workspaces, lets you see how typical mobile development tasks are solved in Xamarin.Forms. Whether you're just starting or looking for a reliable reference for everyday coding challenges, this book offers clear examples without unnecessary theory.

When Gerald Versluis discovered the challenges of maintaining consistent quality in Xamarin app development, he wrote this book to guide developers through setting up automated build and deployment pipelines. You’ll learn how to automate everything from continuous integration to delivering updates, including integrating unit tests on physical devices and using HockeyApp to monitor app performance and errors. Chapters walk you through tooling configuration, running tests, and pushing updates efficiently, making it clear how even small teams can achieve automation once thought exclusive to big companies. If you want to reduce repetitive manual work and better understand your app’s health in the wild, this book gives you the practical framework to do so.

Jonathan Peppers brings over a decade of C# expertise to this guide, shaped by his role as a Xamarin MVP and lead developer of apps like Hanx Writer and Draw a Stickman. You’ll learn to build native cross-platform apps for iOS, Android, and Windows using Xamarin.Forms, mastering core features such as GPS, camera integration, and push notifications. The book details practical techniques like sharing code across platforms and interfacing with native Objective-C and Java libraries, with updated instructions for Visual Studio and Windows. If you’re aiming to develop apps that run seamlessly on multiple platforms and want an insider’s perspective on Xamarin 4’s capabilities, this book is tailored for you.

Drawing from his extensive experience as a Xamarin MVP and Microsoft Regional Director, Dan Hermes offers a detailed exploration of building cross-platform mobile apps using Xamarin.Forms and XAML. You’ll learn how to create decoupled user interfaces with layouts like FlexLayout, apply styles and themes through resource dictionaries and CSS, and implement navigation patterns that enhance app usability. The book delves into data binding with the MVVM pattern and customizing UI elements for specific platforms using effects and custom renderers, making it particularly valuable if you’re an XAML or C# developer aiming to master cross-platform mobile development. Chapters dedicated to XAML syntax and UI design provide concrete examples to reinforce your skills without overwhelming you.