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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.
The problem I have is whether to choose Android Studio or Visual Studio? I have to develop a simple app for a school project that can work on both iPhone and Android.
The most important factors for me are Android and iOS compatibility. Although note that i would like to become a Software Engineer when i finish my course. (I'd like to work for Apple, just saying!)
After that id like easy integration for Google Ads and such if i do develop another app that people actually use to support development. (I'd also like to stick with one easy programming language that's compatible with a wide variety of platforms since i'm a beginner and have only ever used Pascal)
First of all - Android Studio and Visual Studio are IDE's. Tools to create code. What you are asking is programming framework. I assume that when you are talking about Android Studio you mean Native Android Development and by Visual Studio you mean Xamarin.
If you want to create crossplatform app then Native Android Development is NOT a way to go. Xamarin might work for you, BUT - you'd rather recommend you to go with Flutter. It's much more performant than Xamarin, programming model is friendlier for developer and technology seems just more refined. It's also officially supported by google, so no worries about support.
Pros of Android Studio
- Android studio is a great tool, getting better and bet173
- Google's official android ide101
- Intelligent code editor with lots of auto-completion35
- Its powerful and robust25
- Easy creating android app5
- Amazing Layout Designer3
- Great Code Tips3
- Great tool & very helpful3
- Built in Emulator2
- Easy to use2
- Keyboard Shortcuts are Amazing Out of the box2
- Cc1
Pros of Xamarin
- Power of c# on mobile devices120
- Native performance80
- Native apps with native ui controls77
- No javascript - truely compiled code71
- Sharing more than 90% of code over all platforms67
- Ability to leverage visual studio45
- Many great c# libraries44
- Mvvm pattern43
- Amazing support36
- Powerful platform for .net developers34
- GUI Native look and Feel19
- Nuget package manager15
- Free11
- Backed by Microsoft9
- Enables code reuse on server9
- Faster Development8
- Open Source7
- It's free since Apr 20167
- Use of third-party .NET libraries7
- Best performance than other cross-platform7
- Easy Debug and Trace7
- Xamarin.forms is the best, it's amazing6
- Mac IDE (Xamarin Studio)6
- Power of C#, no javascript, visual studio5
- C# mult paradigm language5
- Microsoft backed4
- Great docs4
- Compatible to develop Hybrid apps4
- Microsoft stack4
- That just work for every scenario4
- Small learning curve for Mobile developers3
- Well Designed3
- Ability to leverage legacy C and C++2
- Ionic2
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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
- Scalability3
- Complexity3
- Price3
- Support2
- Nuget2
- Build Tools2
- Maturity2
- Performance0
- Maturidade0