Dot Net Application Development With Uno Platform

If you are talking and listing any of the windows developers, you will know that there is a lot of confusion about the direction of the platforms around .NET and (Universal Windows Platform) UWP. Microsoft is attempting to drawing a line under the differences between older Windows SDKs and UWP when you are trying to bring everything into .NET5 future, but it's still going to take time to deliver a unified platform.

Many of that has been down to how windows platform updates have been delivered in the past, coupled with operating system releases. Project reunion builds on work with the Windows user interface components; decoupling them from the underlying OS and allowing the developer's platform to develop faster than before.

Building an open-source approach to the platform offers more opportunities to bring Dot Net development model to many platforms as possible. For example, how this will work WinUI implementation of the Uno platform, which recently launched its third major release.

Uno platform 3.0

If you have not been looked at the Uno platform before, it is easier to think of it as an alternative to Xamarin permits you to build .NET Code that runs on Android, iOS, macOS, and web. There are different ways of delivering familiar UI over the web using the WinUI with the WebAssembly and Microsoft Blazor Development framework.

Uno platform 3.0 is developing to support WinUI 3.0. You are able to match and mix the controls; an approach that should work well with the phased rollout of WinUI 3.0 and System-level project APIs. You have to write C# and XAML code only once with the code of WinUI that is running directly on windows and Uno on other platforms. Using the Mono WASM implementations on the web to build top of the Xamarin native tools for the Android, iOS, and macOS.

Using Uno to bring .NET Apps to macOS

MacOS implementation of Uno builds on the similarities between AppKit of the macOS and UIKit of iOS. This allows the development team to post their existing iOS control implementations. Although some controls have issues, that's why it's worth experimenting before deploying any code to your users.

It's an effective way to bring existing dot net apps from Windows to macOS. Uno permits your code to run on recently announced ARM-based Apple silicon by building core macOS libraries. Mac support in Uno launched before few months with the re-implementation of the windows calculator app on the macOS and published through the store of macOS. Your existing code requires using a set of new Uno templates and command-line tools of the windows. NET.

You can create an App staging for a macOS application with the same name as a project that you want to target after installed new templates for Uno 3.0. You can move a project into the same folder as the remaining file of your application and add a new project to existing visual studio solutions. Compile a code for the macOS and configure it for the iPhone simulator setting to target your development macOS device.

You can use Git or a similar source code control platform for your complete solution so you are able to manage the code changes for the macOS and windows. MacOS support is available in Uno 3.0 with the latest version demonstrating WinUI based cross-platform video player application that's available in app stores.

Using WinUI 3.0 in Uno

If you are moving your existing code to WinUI 3.0, you have to change your namespace that you are using. For both Microsoft controls and Uno code to do using the refactoring tools built into visual studio.

One of the interesting aspects of the Uno is dual-screen device support. You are able to post apps from windows to the android based surface with minimal changes by taking existing code to Uno and adding dual-screen controls.

Dual-screen mobile applications and collaborate with Google to improving support to upcoming android releases, tools like Uno will be an important route to taking the existing large screen and tablet experience from windows and bringing them to folding and dual-screen Android hardware.

Future of .NET Application Development

The Uno platforms and Xamarin's MAUI are ways to get access to these technologies more quickly on top of your .NET code. By adding WebUI and macOS support to .NET, the Uno platform looks better choice for targeting as many users as possible with the least amount of changes in code. In browser, WebAssembly and stand-alone WebAssembly System Interface (WASI) application should simplify the process of bringing code to a new generation of edge hardware, especially small screen devices based on ARM and low-power processors.