SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xamarin, the enterprise mobile development platform that makes it fast and easy to build, test and monitor apps, announced its expansion of its “Xamarin for Students” offering and participation in Microsoft Imagine’s program for student developers. Now, any student currently enrolled in a diploma or degree-granting course will have the ability to use Visual Studio to build and publish native iOS, Android and Windows apps, free of charge.
The Xamarin platform allows developers to write native cross-platform apps using one shared C# codebase, accelerating time to market and delivering high-performance user experiences - and enterprises are taking notice. Xamarin has a growing global enterprise footprint, with nearly 1 million unique developer downloads, with customers able to harness existing team skills, code and tools to go mobile. Through learning Xamarin and participating in Microsoft Imagine, students acquire the skills they need to become fully capable mobile developers prior to graduation - providing a substantial advantage in competitive job markets.
Launched last November, Xamarin for Students provides student developers with free access to the Xamarin platform. With today’s announcement, the program now includes:
- Support for building, deploying, and debugging iOS and Android apps from Visual Studio as well as Xamarin Studio.
- Xamarin availability in Microsoft Imagine’s software catalog at DreamSpark.com - students can easily discover Xamarin and quickly get started with their Xamarin subscription.
- Access to Xamarin.Forms to build native UIs for iOS, Android and Windows with data-binding and styles, using either C# or declarative XAML markup.
- Xamarin for Educators to offer Xamarin subscriptions, teaching materials, and complimentary Xamarin Test Cloud hours to instructors currently teaching courses related to mobile development.
“As enterprises recognize the need to go mobile, the demand for skilled mobile developers is growing exponentially,” said Joseph Hill, co-founder of Xamarin. “We are committed to giving student developers the ability to meet this growing demand - and have their choice of employers - by giving them the education and solutions necessary ready to create amazing, native mobile apps for all platforms. Through Xamarin for Students, we not only prepare students, we also establish a consistent, high-quality talent pool for our existing customers.”
With Xamarin, students learn C# and F#, offering a comprehensive package to future employers: not only can they build fully native cross-platform mobile apps with the Xamarin platform, but they also have the skills necessary to work with existing .NET applications. As Gartner predicts “increasingly, cross-compilation tools will be used to produce native code from familiar development languages, rather than the platform-specific languages such as Objective-C or Swift. This is driven by the desire to deploy existing, skilled staff on mobile projects, as well as by integration. Using C#, for example, allows for easy reuse of .NET libraries and interfaces.” (source)
Xamarin for Students offers two-fold advantages: students enter the job market significantly ahead of fellow graduates and enterprises find it easier to achieve their mobile initiatives with this new talent base.
To enroll in the Xamarin for Students program, visit https://xamarin.com/student.
About Xamarin:
Xamarin is the new standard for enterprise mobile development and quality. Nearly 1 million developers use Xamarin to accelerate the creation and testing of mission-critical consumer and enterprise apps. Xamarin powers mobile development for more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies, with its global customer base spanning 120 countries. Xamarin is a Visionary in Gartner’s 2014 Magic Quadrant report for Mobile Application Development Platforms. For more information, please visit: xamarin.com or follow us @xamarinhq.
About Microsoft Imagine:
Microsoft Imagine connects aspiring student developers of all skill levels with the tools, resources, and experiences they need to turn their innovative ideas into reality. Whether it’s building a game, designing an app or launching a project, Microsoft Imagine strikes a balance between fun and learning, encouraging students to create, code and develop their ideas throughout their educational journey.