Adrian Hall

Product Architect by day; Open-source developer by night

Because Developers are Awesome - page 13

Recent posts

The things I like (and don’t like) about Swift?

June 19, 2017  6 minute read  

Recently, I’ve given myself the task of learning the “native” mobile development platforms. That means Java or Kotlin for Android and Swift or Objective-C for iOS development. Kotlin is a ways behind Java for Android development and I already knew (somewhat) the Java language, so that one was relatively easy. Swift is the new kid on the block, but it’s obviously the way to go for iOS Development. This is not a blog post about how to learn Swift. In fact, I’m probably not going to teach y...

Which is better - React Native or Xamarin Forms?

May 25, 2017  5 minute read  

Let’s talk about a loaded question. After my recent forays into both React Native and Xamarin Forms, I got asked on Twitter – which is better, React Native or Xamarin Forms? Further, I should answer this for JavaScript experts, C# XAML experts and for developers with experience in both. After all, both produce native apps and both use a common codebase. The Short Version There isn’t a clear winner here. If I am a JavaScript expert, I’ll gravitate towards React Native. If I’m a C# exper...

Building a service in the Cloud

May 08, 2017  7 minute read  

I’ve been thinking about providing services in the cloud for a few years now. A common question I see time and time again is this: “What pieces of the cloud do I need to build my solution?” The answer is always “it depends.” This post is about those options. A service – whether it be a mobile backend, web server or public API – generally has different kinds of content. A web site, for example, will have images, stylesheets and other static content. However, that same web site may als...