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Android Studio vs Xamarin: What are the differences?
What is Android Studio? Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA. Android Studio is a new Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA. It provides new features and improvements over Eclipse ADT and will be the official Android IDE once it's ready.
What is Xamarin? Create iOS, Android and Mac apps in C#. Xamarin’s Mono-based products enable .NET developers to use their existing code, libraries and tools (including Visual Studio*), as well as skills in .NET and the C# programming language, to create mobile applications for the industry’s most widely-used mobile devices, including Android-based smartphones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Android Studio can be classified as a tool in the "Integrated Development Environment" category, while Xamarin is grouped under "Cross-Platform Mobile Development".
Some of the features offered by Android Studio are:
- Flexible Gradle-based build system.
- Build variants and multiple APK generation.
- Expanded template support for Google Services and various device types.
On the other hand, Xamarin provides the following key features:
- Cross-platform development- Thinking about supporting iOS, Android, Mac and Windows? Xamarin allows you to write it all in C#.
- Reuse existing code- Use your favorite .NET libraries in Xamarin apps. Easily use third-party native libraries and frameworks.
- Discover as you type- Explore APIs as you type with code autocompletion.
"Android studio is a great tool, getting better and bet " is the primary reason why developers consider Android Studio over the competitors, whereas "Power of c# on mobile devices" was stated as the key factor in picking Xamarin.
According to the StackShare community, Android Studio has a broader approval, being mentioned in 928 company stacks & 692 developers stacks; compared to Xamarin, which is listed in 75 company stacks and 66 developer stacks.
Pros of Android Studio
- Android studio is a great tool, getting better and bet171
- Google's official android ide100
- Intelligent code editor with lots of auto-completion35
- Its powerful and robust25
- Easy creating android app5
- Amazing Layout Designer3
- Great tool & very helpful3
- Great Code Tips3
- Built in Emulator2
- Keyboard Shortcuts are Amazing Out of the box2
- Easy to use2
- Cc1
Pros of Xamarin
- Power of c# on mobile devices119
- Native performance79
- Native apps with native ui controls76
- No javascript - truely compiled code70
- Sharing more than 90% of code over all platforms66
- Ability to leverage visual studio44
- Many great c# libraries43
- Mvvm pattern42
- Amazing support35
- Powerful platform for .net developers33
- GUI Native look and Feel18
- Nuget package manager14
- Free11
- Enables code reuse on server9
- Backed by Microsoft9
- Faster Development8
- It's free since Apr 20167
- Best performance than other cross-platform7
- Easy Debug and Trace7
- Open Source7
- Use of third-party .NET libraries7
- Xamarin.forms is the best, it's amazing6
- Mac IDE (Xamarin Studio)6
- C# mult paradigm language5
- Microsoft backed4
- Microsoft stack4
- Power of C#, no javascript, visual studio4
- That just work for every scenario4
- Small learning curve for Mobile developers3
- Compatible to develop Hybrid apps3
- Great docs3
- Ionic2
- Well Designed2
- Ability to leverage legacy C and C++1
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Cons of Android Studio
- Huge memory usage4
- Slow emulator4
- No checking incompatibilities2
- Complex for begginers2
- Lags behind IntelliJ IDEA1
- Slow release process1
Cons of Xamarin
- Build times8
- Visual Studio4
- Price3
- Complexity3
- Build Tools2
- Support2
- Scalability2
- Nuget2
- Maturity2
- Maturidade0
- Performance0