Archive
Microsoft acquires Xamarin! – #Microsoft, #Xamarin, #Mobility, #EnvokeIT
This is really cool and something that I personally love! Great move by Microsoft!! 🙂
If you have any questions about this acquisition or if you need assistance with your mobile app development contact us at EnvokeIT!
Microsoft to acquire Xamarin and empower more developers to build apps on any device
As the role of mobile devices in people’s lives expands even further, mobile app developers have become a driving force for software innovation. At Microsoft, we are working to enable even greater developer opportunity and innovation by providing the best experiences to all developers, on any device, with powerful tools, an open platform and a global cloud.
As part of this commitment I am pleased to announce today that Microsoft has signed an agreement to acquire Xamarin, a leading platform provider for mobile app development.
In conjunction with Visual Studio, Xamarin provides a rich mobile development offering that enables developers to build mobile apps using C# and deliver fully native mobile app experiences to all major devices – including iOS, Android, and Windows. Xamarin’s approach enables developers to take advantage of the productivity and power of .NET to build mobile apps, and to use C# to write to the full set of native APIs and mobile capabilities provided by each device platform. This enables developers to easily share common app code across their iOS, Android and Windows apps while still delivering fully native experiences for each of the platforms. Xamarin’s unique solution has fueled amazing growth for more than four years.
Xamarin has more than 15,000 customers in 120 countries, including more than one hundred Fortune 500 companies – and more than 1.3 million unique developers have taken advantage of their offering. Top enterprises such as Alaska Airlines, Coca-Cola Bottling, Thermo Fisher, Honeywell and JetBlue use Xamarin, as do gaming companies like SuperGiant Games and Gummy Drop. Through Xamarin Test Cloud, all types of mobile developers—C#, Objective-C, Java and hybrid app builders —can also test and improve the quality of apps using thousands of cloud-hosted phones and devices. Xamarin was recently named one of the top startups that help run the Internet.
Continue reading here!
//Richard
Free online Computer Science courses from #Harvard College
Ok, this is really interesting (at least for a nerd like myself)!
I just stumbled across this website where the Harvard College hosts some of its courses online, you can view video recording from classes, get access to all slides, source code etc and take the course for free yourself!
They now have the following courses up there;
- Computer Science 50: Introduction to Computer Science I –Â Introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming. This course teaches students how to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently. Topics include abstraction, algorithms, encapsulation, data structures, databases, memory management, security, software development, virtualization, and websites. Languages include C, PHP, and JavaScript plus SQL, CSS, and HTML. Problem sets inspired by real-world domains of biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming. Designed for concentrators and non-concentrators alike, with or without prior programming experience.
- Computer Science 164: Mobile Software Engineering –Â Introduction to principles of software engineering for mobile devices and best practices, including code reviews, source control, and unit tests. Topics include Ajax, encapsulation, event handling, HTTP, memory management, MVC, object-oriented design, and user experience. Languages include HTML5, JavaScript, Objective-C, and PHP. Projects include mobile web apps and native iOS apps.
- Computer Science E1: Understanding Computers and the Internet –Â This course is all about understanding: understanding what’s going on inside your computer when you flip on the switch, why tech support has you constantly rebooting your computer, how everything you do on the Internet can be watched by others, and how your computer can become infected with a worm just by turning it on. In this course we demystify computers and the Internet, along with their jargon, so that students understand not only what they can do with each but also how it all works and why. Students leave this course armed with a new vocabulary and equipped for further exploration of computers and the Internet. Topics include hardware, software, the Internet, multimedia, security, website development, programming, and dotcoms. Through optional hands-on sections and workshops, local students have opportunities to dissect as well as upgrade a computer with additional hardware, search the Internet more effectively, build a wireless network, create digital images, eradicate spyware, and design webpages. Problem sets offer online students similar opportunities. This course is designed both for those with little, if any, computer experience and for those who use a computer every day.
- Computer Science E76: Building Mobile Applications –Â Today’s applications are increasingly mobile. Computers are no longer confined to desks and laps but instead live in our pockets and hands. This course teaches students how to build mobile apps for Android and iOS, two of today’s most popular platforms, and how to deploy them in Android Market and the App Store. Students learn how to write native apps for Android using Eclipse and the Android SDK, how to write native apps for iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads using Xcode and the iOS SDK, and how to write web apps for both platforms.
Continue reading and take the courses here!
Happy coding! 😉
//Richard
The IT Melting Pot! 