Solution:

The first step for Mitra US was to understand client business and how users interacted with website. The second step was to analyze existing site. The analysis included understanding site architecture, UI layout, data access layer and business rules. Through analysis it was discovered that although most business rules were maintained in code libraries, there were quite a few business rules that resided on the UI layer, which presented a challenge for mobile app UI layer. This had to be solved to make sure the app was not rejected by users due to lack of features or due to erroneous coding.

After the initial analysis, Mitra US team together with client IT team, decided on using Xamarin to deliver the mobile app. The decision to use Xamarin were as follows:

• Write majority of code once to target both iOS and Android devices.
• Leverage existing .NET code to minimize writing new code and thus lower risks generally associated with introducing new code.
• Xamarin development paradigm allowed for class libraries built as PCL or Shared Projects that could be used by both server side applications and by mobile app.
• Use Xamarin Forms to develop data driven pages only once to target both platforms.
• Ability to use iOS or Android specific controls when Xamarin Forms UI was unable to meet requirements. In certain cases, using native controls allowed for better performance.

After initial analysis, several proof-of-concepts were tested before development began. During development, Mitra US abstracted the business logic from UI layer and built PCL and Shared Projects code libraries. A Web API layer was then built on top of the libraries to allow access to both server code and mobile code. This process allowed us to reuse existing code that handled business rules, thus minimizing issues and bugs that may have otherwise risen due to new code. Our 15+ years of .NET experience made what would be an otherwise complex process a simple one for all parties involved.