Explain .NET Standard Libraries For Sharing Code on Xamarin?

Explaining .NET Standard Libraries for Sharing Code on Xamarin

.NET Standard Libraries are a crucial component for sharing code across different .NET platforms, including Xamarin. Here’s a detailed explanation:

What is .NET Standard?

.NET Standard is a formal specification of .NET APIs that are intended to be available on all .NET implementations. It provides a uniform set of APIs that can be used across different .NET platforms such as .NET Framework, .NET Core, and Xamarin. This standardization ensures that libraries targeting .NET Standard can be used across multiple .NET environments without modification[2][4][6].

Benefits of .NET Standard Libraries

1. Uniform API Surface: .NET Standard defines a consistent set of APIs that are available across all .NET platforms, which simplifies the development process by providing a common API surface[2][4].
2. Code Reusability: By targeting .NET Standard, developers can write libraries that are reusable across different platforms, reducing the need to write platform-specific code[1][4][6].
3. Portability: Libraries targeting .NET Standard can be used in any .NET runtime that supports the specified version of .NET Standard, enhancing the portability of the code[2][4][6].

How to Use .NET Standard Libraries in Xamarin

1. Creating a .NET Standard Library:

   • In Visual Studio, create a new project and select the .NET Standard Library template.
   • Choose the appropriate version of .NET Standard (e.g., .NET Standard 2.0 is recommended for broad compatibility)[1][3][6].

2. Adding the Library to Xamarin Projects:

   • Once the .NET Standard Library is created, it can be referenced in Xamarin projects (iOS, Android, UWP) just like any other library.
   • This allows the shared code to be used across different platform-specific projects within the same solution[1][3][6].

3. Managing Dependencies:

   • The .NETStandard.Library metapackage includes all the necessary dependencies for .NET Standard, ensuring that the library can be used across different platforms without compatibility issues[8].

Example Workflow

1. Create a .NET Standard Library:

   • In Visual Studio, go to File > New > Project, select .NET Core and then .NET Standard Library.
   • Choose .NET Standard 2.0 as the target framework and name your project[1][3].

2. Reference the Library in Xamarin Projects:

   • Add the .NET Standard Library project to your Xamarin solution.
   • In each platform-specific proj...