Creating Mobile Apps with Xamarin.Forms

I read the preview edition and really like it! I wish I could get may hands on the rest of the chapters. I'm turning into a Xamarin fan boy and have not even download it yet. I think this is going to be a great book for begin phone developers like me. I have a background in C# and this seems like home to me. I have read two other Xamarin books all good but this one could be a step above the others! I learned some things I did not get from the the other Xamarin books or from the Xamarin web site. This preview got me thinking about how the book "Application = Code + Markup" by Petzold read compared to this preview. I was just kind of wondering how all the ObjectBinding and binding property lingo compared to the normal XAML language. For now the preview had some typos. Mainly a couple commas in code that were not needed and a lot of hyphens not needed. Editors need to search for hyphens and fix the small issues. But, all and all the preview is very readable and useful!! I give it 5 stars.

One of the great technical writers of our time covers one of the most important technical topics of our time: cross-platform mobile development. The book begins with an overview of where Xamarin.Forms fits into the overall scheme of mobile development. Then he dives into the code: - Creating pages, organizing controls(Views) on a page using layouts - Background threading, a crucial topic in mobile dev, and data binding using OnPropertyChanged - UI implementation, such as fonts, colors, justification, and text handling and wrapping - Images and bitmaps, a standby topic for mobile navigation The style is conversational, easy-to-read, and interesting, with plenty of code examples. I had the pleasure of meeting him at Xamarin Evolve and he's a warm soul and a great public speaker. If you're new to Xamarin, this is a fine place to start. If you're a Mono/MonoTouch veteran, there's something for you here, too, as Petzold isn't afraid to go deep.

This is a great start to a broad topic. As a preview, it is understandably lacking in some basic editing and review (esp. since it was likely rushed out to be available prior to the 2014 Evolve conference.) There is only basic content and just enough to "wet your beak", but with what is there, it promises to be a real good book when it is completed, as most of Charles' works tend to be.

Excellent book - many explanations and examples of the inner workings of Xamarin Forms

Didn't have enough expertise to use it.

great, fully featured, easy to follow and the price was PERFECT! It's tough finding a good tech book, preview pages aren't enough & when you buy some they turn out to be disappointing. Hands down, great details & price for technology which is still being actively developed. Go, Xamarin!

Outstanding book just to be the preview version. I would highly recommend this book to any .NET Developer looking to use their skills to built cross platform mobile apps. The books teaches you just enough to get your feet wet.

Great reference for anyone starting out. look forward to the final version. I've been lifting weights to be in shape when it comes out.