Xamarin 4 Overview - Article

Url: https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2016/01/11/xamarin-4-improvements-upgrading.aspx
November 17, 2015 was a great day for mobile development. That is the day that Xamarin shipped the latest major update to its mobile development suite of tools, and with this one there's lots to like:

• Xamarin.Forms. With Xamarin.Forms 2.0, there are updates for iOS9, Material Design, pre-compiled screens, preview support for Universal Windows Platform apps, and gestures support like pinch.
• Visual Studio iOS Support. Xamarin has reengineered for iOS support for Visual Studio in a way that should improve iOS app reliability.
• Mono Upgrade. Microsoft has open sourced portions of the .NET codebase, and what that, Xamarin has incorporated the open source code into the Mono framework. The move should improve the compatibility and performance of the framework.
• The iOS designer. The iOS designer can now load and save XIB files in addition to storyboard files.
• The Android designer. The Android designer now supports Android Material Design.
• Xamarin Test Cloud. To support the Xamarin Test Cloud and its 2,000+ devices that are accessible to developers, Xamarin has introduced a preview tool named the Xamarin Test Recorder, Xamarin.UITest 1.0, and Xamarin Insights, has been released with free crash reporting for all Xamarin customers (and, finally, additional plans for users).

PS. I was told that Listing 5 should have the following change:

protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
{

            FormsAppCompatActivity.ToolbarResource = Resource.Layout.toolbar;
            FormsAppCompatActivity.TabLayoutResource = Resource.Layout.tabs;
            base.OnCreate(bundle); 

            global::Xamarin.Forms.Forms.Init(this, bundle); 
            LoadApplication(new App()); 
}

A few thoughts on my new column on Startups and Entrepreneurship

I never did put out an intro to my my new VSM Column on Startups and Entrepreneurship, so I guess I'll consider this post an "Introduction and Hello" or something similar.  Here are a few thoughts in no particular order:

• These are my experiences.  My experiences are based on my actual experiences.  I've been directly involved over a long period of time with 3 startups.  Two of these startups were successful and one went into the ground at 500 miles an hour.  These are my long term startup experiences.  I've been involved with several other startups on a short term consulting experience.  None of these short term startup experiences have been successful due to reasons outside of my control, but you knew I would say that.
• I'm a developer that get's business.  I've had it drilled into my head forever.  I hated it when I was young, but now I get it.  It is one of the few experiences that I can remember as being positive about my youth.
• I don't live in Silicon Valley nor have I ever been associated with the startup life style of SV.  Given that most developers that read Visual Studio Magazine are .NET developers and there are few places using .NET in SV, at least that is what I am told, I'm going to focus on the realities that I see outside of SV.  If you are in SV and your read my stuff, great.  If you are in SV and you hate what I say, great.  I would actually like to hear about that.  If you like my stuff, great.
• These are my experiences regarding what has worked for me and what has not.  If your experiences and my experiences are different, great.  I don't have a problem going back and saying that something else worked for someone else.
• If you are a software architecture wonk and think that software architecture is the most important thing, then you are a moron and I'll probably say something along those lines in my column.  The most important thing in a software based startup is to create business value.  If your architecture delays your product, it sucks.  Get something out, get feedback from the users, act on that feedback.  Now, your stuff needs to be secure.  That is also important, but architecture, not so much.  Architecture is something that high end consulting shops use to sell more of their high end hours to CIOs of Fortune level companies.  This column is about getting going.  If you want to invest in cool architecture, invest in it when your startup has moved into the Fortune level of companies.  
• People and dedication are the most important things that you should look for.  It doesn't matter if someone is from Harvard or XYZ polytechnic.  What matters is people and the dedication that they have to solve a problem.  You don't know if someone is dedicated until they are in the foxhole of software hell with you and you are taking grenades on a Friday night.  Are they getting up at 5 am on a Saturday to go to test out software changes from users and to get feedback?  Are they even willing to act on that feedback?

If You Build It, Will They Come?

Url: https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2016/01/06/app-to-market-4-listen-to-users.aspx

Users are the most important part of your application, startup, and, ultimately, business.  You must provide them something of value.  That something must resolve some pain point that they have.  It must do something to somehow make their lives easier.
This time, I'll look back at three of the startups I have been involved with and how each one worked with the users:

• The first was a real estate multiple listing service that was successful.
• The second was a pay-for-placement search engine that was successful.
• The third was a FourSquare-type of service for searching local services that was formed and worked several years, then saw success dry up when listening to customers was refused and FourSquare started up.