Is Xamarin a hybrid?
The term, Hybrid, is very vague and overused in this case. Xamarin is a cross-platform development platform, that can share a C# based code set to produce native iOS and Android applications. Because it can do both simultaneously, some call it hybrid development. However, there are applications called Hybrid apps, which are applications or web pages, built in the native browser (UIWebView for iOS, WebView for Android), which is then “wrapped” within a native app. Since Xamarin is using C#, then producing native iOS and Android applications, it cannot produce hybrid apps.
Is Xamarin better than React native?
This is a great debate. Each platform has its advantages, both having most of the code written being re-usable for both iOS and Android (estimated at above 80% re-use). React has their Live Reload feature which speeds up development (allows real-time previewing of code updates) and being written in open-source JavaScript has a huge developer community. It’s also note-worthy that it’s Google’s platform, and completely free, so there’s that. Microsoft acquired Xamarin back in 2013-14, and has made it open-source, although written in C#, has a better development environment, normally requires Visual Studio and other developer tools that may require a license. It’s backed by Microsoft, uses C# for its coding language, and has a better component store (third-party libraries, tools, apps, controls, etc.).
Is Xamarin free?
Xamarin is open-source and free. Like most free tools, there are purchasable third-party controls and libraries, and if you use the native development within Visual Studio, you’d need a license for that.
What is Xamarin development?
Xamarin development is a cross-platform mobile app development model. Similar to writing a document in Microsoft Word, then saving it out as a document or PDF, Xamarin has your development project, written in C#, with libraries that let you compile and produce native iOS or Android mobile apps using the same code base.