Xamarin Community: Join and Grow

If you're curious about joining the Xamarin community, here's what you need to know in simple terms:

Xamarin is a tool by Microsoft for building apps across different devices using C#.
The Xamarin community is a vibrant space where developers share tips, help each other, and contribute to making Xamarin even better.
Getting involved can mean participating in forums, contributing to the Xamarin Community Toolkit, joining social media groups, or contributing to open-source projects.
Sharing knowledge through blogs, videos, sample apps, and code reviews benefits both you and the community.
Learning resources include blogs, YouTube channels, and webinars that keep you updated on the latest in Xamarin.
Community recognition and events, like the Global MVP Summit and local meetups, celebrate contributions and facilitate learning.
The future involves a transition to .NET MAUI, which is the next step for Xamarin developers, with Xamarin support ending in May 2024.

This community is all about learning, sharing, and growing together. Whether you're new or experienced, there's a place for you in the Xamarin world.

The Significance of Community

The Xamarin group is a place where developers help each other out with problems.
People share tips on how to make really good mobile apps.
Members also help make Xamarin better by adding their own improvements.
Keeping up with the group means you always know the newest tricks and updates.

Joining the Xamarin community means you get to learn from others and share your own tips for making awesome mobile apps.

Getting Involved in the Xamarin Community

Xamarin Forums

The Xamarin forums are a good spot to ask for help, help others, and keep up with what's new. You can ask questions, find answers, join in on discussions, and meet other Xamarin developers. The forums cover different areas like Xamarin.Forms, Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, and Xamarin.Mac.

To start:

Sign up for an account
Look through the forum rules
Check if someone has already asked your question before posting
When you ask something, include any code or errors
Answer other people's questions if you know how

Being active in the forums helps you learn more and helps others too.

Xamarin Community Toolkit

The Xamarin Community Toolkit is a project everyone can help with. It has extra UI tools and helpers that Xamarin.Forms doesn't offer by itself.

Here's how you can join in:

Fixing bugs: Look at current issues and suggest fixes
Adding features: Suggest and help make new tools
Making documentation better: Help update guides and comments

It's a good chance to practice your skills, add to your portfolio, and support the community. The people running it are friendly and help newcomers.

Sites like Facebook have groups all about Xamarin, such as:

Xamarin Developers - A place for general talk and questions with over 8,000 members
Xamarin Forms Community - Tips on making cross-platform UIs
Xamarin Jobs - Helps developers find work

These groups share how-tos, stories, news, and job ads. You can ask questions, show off your apps, learn about events like Xamarin University, and connect with people in the Xamarin world.

Overall, social media makes it easy to talk and share with Xamarin developers everywhere.

Contributing to the Community

Open Source Contributions

The Xamarin Community Toolkit and lots of other Xamarin stuff are open for anyone to help out with on GitHub. This means you can jump in, write some code, fix things that aren't working right, or come up with cool new ideas.

Here's how to get started:

Find a project: Look at the Xamarin Community Toolkit on GitHub or search for other Xamarin projects.
Review guidelines: Make sure to read the project's rules on how to contribute.
Claim an issue: Pick a problem or a new feature you're interested in and let others know you're working on it.
Fork & code: Copy the project to your space and start working on your changes.
Open PR: When you're done, send a pull request to share your work.

Starting with small fixes is a good idea. Even if you're not coding, just talking about issues can be a big help.

If you know a lot about Xamarin, you can share it in different ways:

Blog posts: Write how-tos or guides on your blog.
Videos: Make video tutorials and post them on YouTube.
Sample apps: Share simple apps that show off Xamarin features like Camera View or State Layout.
Podcasts: Talk about Xamarin on podcasts.

Sharing what you know helps everyone and also makes you look good professionally. Don't forget to share your stuff in online groups and forums.

Code Reviews

Looking at and commenting on others' code is a great way to get better and help others:

Community PRs: Check out pull requests on GitHub and give your thoughts.
Forum posts: Give advice on code shared in forums.
Stack Overflow: Help solve problems and suggest better ways to do things.

Always be nice and focus on helping improve the code. Mention what's good and what could be better. This way, you learn a lot while helping out.

Community Resources for Learning

Blogs

There are a bunch of blogs out there that focus on Xamarin. They share how-to guides, news, and tips:

Xamarin Blog - This is the official blog from the Xamarin team. They talk about new stuff coming out, share stories, and give advice on making apps.
James Montemagno - A blog by a well-known developer who gives a lot of helpful tips on using Xamarin.
Daniel Hindrikes - He writes about how to use .NET MAUI and Xamarin.Forms to make your app work better.

These blogs are a good way to keep up with what's new in Xamarin and learning how to make better apps.

YouTube Channels

YouTube is a great place to find videos that teach you about Xamarin:

Xamarin Developers - The official YouTube channel with lots of videos on new things in Xamarin, how to use different features, and coding examples.
James Montemagno - He makes tutorials and live coding videos about Xamarin and .NET MAUI.
Gerald Versluis - Shares helpful tips for making mobile apps using Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms.

These channels offer detailed yet easy-to-understand videos, making them a great place to learn.

Webinars

You can also join free webinars to learn more about Xamarin:

Xamarin Developer Summit - This is an online event that happens once a year with talks on Xamarin and .NET MAUI.
.NET MAUI Mondays - A live stream showing product demos and updates.
Xamarin Show - This includes interviews with experts and talks about what's trending.

Webinars are an interactive way to learn and connect with other people who make apps.

Community Recognition and Events

Community events and special programs are super important for cheering on experts and helping everyone learn more in the Xamarin developer world.

Global MVP Summit

The Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) Award is a big deal. It's given to folks who are really good at sharing what they know about tech. Every year, Microsoft gathers these smart people from all over at the Global MVP Summit. Here, they can talk to each other, learn about new Microsoft stuff, and give their thoughts on it.

Going to the Global MVP Summit is a big chance for Xamarin experts to meet others like them, have a say in what's coming next, and then share all that cool info when they get back. Writing about the summit or making videos helps spread the word even further.

Local Meetups

Local Xamarin meetups are face-to-face gatherings where developers can hang out, learn from one another, and make new friends. These events might include tech talks, hands-on projects, coding competitions, and chances to talk about jobs.

Joining these meetups is a great way to make the local Xamarin scene stronger. It's also a place for the more experienced folks to see where they can help out more. If you're good at Xamarin, sharing your knowledge at meetups, helping newcomers, or even helping to set up these events can inspire others to share what they know, too.

The Future of the Xamarin Community

Transition to .NET MAUI

Microsoft is nudging Xamarin developers towards using .NET MAUI for making apps that work on different devices. Here's what you need to know:

Microsoft suggests starting new projects with .NET MAUI because it's got some upgrades compared to Xamarin.
If you're already working on a Xamarin app, no worries. You can keep working on it and move to .NET MAUI when you're ready.
The tools and code you use in Xamarin will gradually change to work with newer versions of .NET.
Xamarin.Forms is merging into .NET MAUI. This means you can slowly start using .NET MAUI for parts of your app.
With .NET MAUI, you get the best of both worlds: you can use the same code for different platforms but still make each app look unique.

By following Microsoft's advice, you can keep up with the latest tech while still taking care of your existing Xamarin work.

Adapting the Community Toolkit

The Xamarin Community Toolkit is getting an update to work with .NET MAUI:

It's combining the best parts of related toolkits into one. This means less searching for the tools you need.
The focus is on making it easier to use things like MVVM and databinding.
While the toolkit is moving to support .NET MAUI, it'll still get updates for Xamarin.
There's a chance to add more features for different platforms, like Blazor, in the future.

This update makes it simpler to find and use community tools. The new .NET MAUI toolkit will keep supporting Xamarin while bringing in new features.

Conclusion

Key Takeaways

The Xamarin community is a great place to learn new things, get better at your job, and help others. The more you join in, the more everyone benefits.
Use forums, GitHub, and social media to ask questions, share what you know, and meet new people.
Share your skills by working on open source projects, writing guides, reviewing code, and joining in events.
Keep up with the latest news and tips by reading blogs, watching YouTube videos, and attending webinars.
As Xamarin moves to .NET MAUI, everyone in the community needs to update their skills and tools.
Local meetups are awesome for learning by doing and building a strong community close to home. Think about starting one yourself.
The community gives a thumbs up to those who contribute a lot through special summits and awards. Aim to be one of those recognized.

Being part of the Xamarin community means sharing what you know and learning from others. It's about helping each other so that everyone can grow. Make sure to ask questions, share advice, and contribute to projects. Staying active means you'll keep up as Xamarin evolves.

Is Xamarin Forms dying?

Since May 2020, how we develop apps for different devices has started to change. Microsoft, the company behind Xamarin, announced that .NET MAUI is the new technology taking over from Xamarin Forms starting November 2021. By May 2024, they will completely stop updating Xamarin, which means it won't be the best option anymore.

Is Xamarin no longer supported?

Yes, starting May 1, 2024, Microsoft will no longer update or support Xamarin, including Xamarin.Forms. The last versions Xamarin will work with are Android API 34 and Xcode 15 SDKs. This means there won't be any new updates after that date.

What is replacing Xamarin?

Microsoft is introducing .NET MAUI as the new way to make apps that work across different devices. It's designed to be better and more efficient than Xamarin, offering improvements in how fast apps run, making developers' work easier, and simplifying the overall process of building apps.

Will Xamarin support end on May 1 2024?

Yes, after May 1, 2024, there won't be any official support for Xamarin apps from Microsoft. This means it's important to think about moving your app to a newer platform like .NET MAUI to keep it up-to-date. However, you can still use apps made with Xamarin after this date; they just won't get updates or support.