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GeneralRe: Android Development Stack Pin
Kevin Marois15-Jan-15 8:36
professionalKevin Marois15-Jan-15 8:36 
GeneralRe: Android Development Stack Pin
User 171649215-Jan-15 8:45
professionalUser 171649215-Jan-15 8:45 
GeneralRe: Android Development Stack Pin
Kevin Marois15-Jan-15 8:48
professionalKevin Marois15-Jan-15 8:48 
GeneralRe: Android Development Stack Pin
User 171649215-Jan-15 8:59
professionalUser 171649215-Jan-15 8:59 
GeneralRe: Android Development Stack Pin
TheGreatAndPowerfulOz15-Jan-15 10:53
TheGreatAndPowerfulOz15-Jan-15 10:53 
GeneralRe: Android Development Stack Pin
Sergey Andrushchik16-Jan-15 1:42
Sergey Andrushchik16-Jan-15 1:42 
GeneralRe: Android Development Stack Pin
Obinna Okafor16-Jan-15 2:51
Obinna Okafor16-Jan-15 2:51 
GeneralRe: Android Development Stack Pin
Yortw18-Jan-15 8:43
Yortw18-Jan-15 8:43 
I would also suggest Xamarin, especially if you want to stick with VS. However, it isn't all roses. Aside from the licensing & hardware costs (if you want to do iOS work but normally run Windows on a PC), I have found Xamarin Forms to be buggy and deficient in terms of features. There are lots of weird issues with the tools, particularly things like VS randomly losing it's connection to the mac build host (if you aren't running VS on the mac itself) and so on. Xamarin upgrades usually break everything, at least until you find the magical reboot order.

Right now I have an existing published app, but Apple have just changed the rules (at least a couple of months ago) so all apps must soon have 64 bit versions. Xamarin have only just released their non-alpha update for 'unified API' support, and because I work in VS and not Xamarin Studio on a mac the upgrade process for my project was very manual. I also encountered some weird issues during the upgrade that I couldn't find solutions for on the internet, but eventually managed to work through on my own. Unfortunately I'm using a couple of open source libraries to handle things Xamarin Forms doesn't do well cross-platform (access to contacts/camera and image manipulation), and those libraries haven't been converted, so I can't finish converting my app. I'm now trying to decide whether to update those libraries myself (ugh), or wait to see if the authors are successful in time for the two deadlines published by Apple. None of this is actually helping me with my app, and if I had written natively for Apple I would still have had some work to do, but could have started sooner and wouldn't have the x-platform issues to worry about.

I know you said Android (so Google, not Apple), but I just wanted to point out some of the pitfalls of Xamarin. Also don't be fooled by 'Xamarin imposes no performance hit' - there are lots of known issues with the Xamarin Forms ListView integration, and even a few with the label control (!). Even without Xamarin Forms, if you aren't careful on Android specifically, you can end up with memory/performance problems because two different GC's start fighting each other.

I am persevering with Xamarin, but a few devs I know from Twitter have given up and gone on to use the native tools for each platform because Xamarin was just too frustrating for them.
Which is not to say Xamarin doesn't have it's good parts, the fact it works at all is astounding. I'm just saying don't believe all the marketing hype.

As far as books go, I think Amazon has a newish one (or pre-release version) of a Xamarin Forms book by Charles Petzold (now working for Xamarin). If you want something entry level, particularly for XF, that's a good place to start... sorry, I don't have the title handy but if you search for Xamarin and Charles Petzold you'll probably find it.

What I would actually recommend if you go the Xamarin route, is to join the Xamarin University for a year. Yes, it costs more $$$, but you can do as many courses as you can squeeze in, and you get real instructors you can ask questions of. Many of the courses are pretty basic if you're familiar with C#, but the platform specific ones, or the ones that are about Xamarin Form etc. can be very useful. You can even book half hour one on one sessions with the instructors if you need help with an actual project.

Good luck.
GeneralCareer change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
DaveAuld15-Jan-15 4:40
professionalDaveAuld15-Jan-15 4:40 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
Munchies_Matt15-Jan-15 4:47
Munchies_Matt15-Jan-15 4:47 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
OriginalGriff15-Jan-15 4:57
mveOriginalGriff15-Jan-15 4:57 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
Slacker00715-Jan-15 5:37
professionalSlacker00715-Jan-15 5:37 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
DaveAuld15-Jan-15 5:40
professionalDaveAuld15-Jan-15 5:40 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
Bergholt Stuttley Johnson15-Jan-15 22:12
professionalBergholt Stuttley Johnson15-Jan-15 22:12 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
DaveAuld15-Jan-15 22:26
professionalDaveAuld15-Jan-15 22:26 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
Bergholt Stuttley Johnson16-Jan-15 1:20
professionalBergholt Stuttley Johnson16-Jan-15 1:20 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
Mike Hankey15-Jan-15 7:09
mveMike Hankey15-Jan-15 7:09 
GeneralRe: Career change? No thanks, I'll pass.......... Pin
Mycroft Holmes15-Jan-15 13:40
professionalMycroft Holmes15-Jan-15 13:40 
QuestionBest Spot to share a small class / project Pin
Super Lloyd15-Jan-15 3:32
Super Lloyd15-Jan-15 3:32 
AnswerRe: Best Spot to share a small class / project Pin
PIEBALDconsult15-Jan-15 3:34
mvePIEBALDconsult15-Jan-15 3:34 
AnswerRe: Best Spot to share a small class / project Pin
Rage15-Jan-15 3:40
professionalRage15-Jan-15 3:40 
GeneralRe: Best Spot to share a small class / project Pin
Super Lloyd15-Jan-15 4:12
Super Lloyd15-Jan-15 4:12 
AnswerRe: Best Spot to share a small class / project Pin
megaadam15-Jan-15 4:08
professionalmegaadam15-Jan-15 4:08 
AnswerRe: Best Spot to share a small class / project Pin
Slacker00715-Jan-15 4:24
professionalSlacker00715-Jan-15 4:24 
AnswerRe: Best Spot to share a small class / project Pin
Marc Clifton15-Jan-15 4:38
mvaMarc Clifton15-Jan-15 4:38 

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