Powerful Backends with Microsoft Azure

Pierce Boggan@pierceboggan@bostonmobiledev

Powerful Backends with Microsoft Azure

Plenty of OptionsAmazon Web Services

Azure Mobile Apps

IBM MobileFirst

Oracle Mobile Cloud

SQLCIipher

Couchbase

MySQL

SQLite-net

soundcloud.com/xamarin-podcast

• Extremely powerful• Flexible• Easy Tables• App Service

• C# clients, written by C# developers

Why Azure?

REST

API

Offline sync Push Notifications

Data connections

User Authentication

Facebook

Twitter Microsoft Google

Azure Active

Directory

Azure Mobile Apps

WindowsAndroid

Chrome

iOS OSX

In-AppKindle

Xamarin & Windows SDKs

Backend code

SQL MongoTables O365 API Apps

Offline Sync

Introducing Azure Mobile Apps

Xamarin Platform: native apps across platforms

Xamarin’s Unique Approach

Shared C# codebase • 100% native API access • High performance

iOS C# UI

Windows C# UIAndroid C# UI

Shared C# Mobile

C# Server

Linux/MonoCoreCLRAzure

Shared C# Client/Server

Visual Studio Xamarin Studio

Build native UIs for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone from a single, shared C# codebase.

Meet Xamarin.Forms

Xamarin + Xamarin.Forms

Traditional Xamarin Approach

With Xamarin.Forms:More code-sharing, all

native

iOS C# UI Windows C#

UIAndroid C# UI

Shared C# Backend

Shared UI Code

Shared C# Backend

What’s included

✓ 40+ Pages, layouts, and controls (Build from code behind or XAML)✓ Two-way data binding✓ Navigation✓ Animation API✓ Dependency Service✓ Messaging Center

Shared C# Backend

Shared UI Code

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><TabbedPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml" x:Class="MyApp.MainPage"><TabbedPage.Children><ContentPage Title="Profile" Icon="Profile.png"> <StackLayout Spacing="20" Padding="20" VerticalOptions="Center"> <Entry Placeholder="Username" Text="{Binding Username}"/> <Entry Placeholder="Password" Text="{Binding Password}" IsPassword="true"/> <Button Text="Login" TextColor="White" BackgroundColor="#77D065" Command="{Binding LoginCommand}"/> </StackLayout></ContentPage><ContentPage Title="Settings" Icon="Settings.png"> <!-- Settings --></ContentPage></TabbedPage.Children>

Native UI from shared code

Windows Xamarin.FormsStackPanel StackLayoutTextBox EntryListBox ListViewCheckBox SwitchProgressBar ActivityIndicatorGrid GridLabel LabelButton ButtonImage ImageDate/TimePicker Date/TimePicker

Control Comparison

Windows Xamarin.FormsDataContext BindingContext{Binding Property}

{Binding Property}

ItemsSource ItemsSourceItemTemplate ItemTemplateDataTemplate DataTemplate

BindingComparison

Azure Easy Tables

Azure is super powerful. But what if you just need a simple data store?

• Add a backend to your mobile app in as little as 15 minutes!

• Great for simple data storage / authentication / push capabilities

• Just like “old Azure Mobile Services” / Parse• Features• No-code CRUD backend• Create schema yourself• View app data

Azure Easy Tables

• Very limited control over how your backend operates – how data is stored, etc.

• End up having to move more logic to frontend than is ideal.

• Examples• GetAll should only return items for a particular user – very difficult to

do.• Trigger a push notification when an item is added to the a table

Azure Easy Tables - Tradeoffs

• Improve app responsiveness by caching server data locally on the device

• Make apps resilient against intermittent network connectivity.

• Allow end-users to create and modify data even when there is no network access, supporting scenarios with little or no connectivity.

• Sync data across multiple devices and detect conflicts when the same record is modified by two devices.

Offline Sync

Create a MobileServiceMobileService = new MobileServiceClient(

"https://myapp.azurewebsites.net);

Create TablesIMobileServiceSyncTable<Todo> table;public async Task Init(){ const string path = "syncstore.db"; var db = new MobileServiceSQLiteStore(path); db.DefineTable<Todo>();

}

var handler = new MobileServiceSyncHandler(); await MobileService.SyncContext.InitializeAsync(db, h); table = MobileService.GetSyncTable<Todo>();

Get and Modify Datapublic async Task<IEnumerable<Store>> GetStoresAsync(){ await table.PullAsync("allStores", table.CreateQuery()); return await table.ToEnumerableAsync();}public async Task<Store> AddStoreAsync (Store store){ await table.InsertAsync (store); await table.PullAsync("allStores", table.CreateQuery()); await MobileService.SyncContext.PushAsync(); return store;}

Let’s build an app!

• “App Service is a cloud platform to build powerful web and mobile apps that connect to data anywhere, in the cloud or on-premises”

• Easy Tables with more control.• Migrate from Easy Tables to App Service without any frontend changes.

• Stack: ASP.NET Web API + OData + Entity Framework

Azure App Service

• Full control over how your data is stored and retrieved

• Built-in autoscale, load balancing, and performance monitoring

• Add continuous running logic with WebJobs• Connect your mobile app to SaaS APIs, like

Office 365, SharePoint, and SAP• Access on-prem data with hybrid

connections with a VPN

Why Azure App Service?

• Rolling your own account infrastructure is difficult and time-consuming

• Secure your app with prebuilt authentication providers• Facebook• Twitter• Google• Microsoft• Azure AD• Anything OAuth 2

Authentication

• Easy-to-use, multiplatform scaled push infrastructure that allows you to send push notifications almost anywhere.

Push Notifications

• Sync files to Azure Storage, just like you did for structured data.

File Sync

Connect with your Consumers• Consumer Application• Browse Stores & Details• Call & Navigate to Store• Easily Send Feedback

• Rich Native Interface• 100% Shared C# Code

My Shoppe

Product catalog for field sales teams• 96% code reuse using

Xamarin.Forms• Data storage with Azure• Authentication with ADAL• Charting with SyncFusion

AppCRM

Consumer app built with Xamarin.Forms

• 93% code reuse• Azure backend• Templated push notifications• Authentication with Google OAuth

Sport

Get Started Todayxamarin.com

Free 30 Day Trial - xamarin.com/university

Unrivaled Mobile

Development Training

Live unlimited mobile development training from mobile experts, in your time-zone, on your schedule, and as often as you'd like.

evolve.xamarin.-com

• Azure• Blog: azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/• Twitter: twitter.com/azuremobile• Documentation:

azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/services/app-service/• Xamarin• Blog: blog.xamarin.com• Twitter: twitter.com/xamarinhq• Documentation:

developer.xamarin.com/guides/cross-platform/azure/mobile-services/

Resources

Thank You! Questions?Pierce BogganSoftware Engineer, Evangelism Team, Xamarin

@pierceboggan @bostonmobiledev

github.com/pierceboggan