Hands-on Cross-platform Mobile and Desktop Apps with .NET MAUI

Over the past couple of years, .NET MAUI has teased us with glimpses of its potential. Now, with the arrival of .NET 8, we have a mature, stable, and more reliable version than ever – and every .NET developer can use their existing skills to craft beautiful and functional mobile and desktop apps.

Roll up your sleeves and build an app that you’ll actually be able to hold in your hands! Over two days, we’ll learn all about .NET MAUI by building a real-time chat app that can run on desktop or mobile and see how you can use device and platform features with simplicity. Learn important concepts like layouts and controls, authentication, and enterprise development patterns and practices like MVVM.

Whether you’re building apps for enterprise or consumers, the concepts and topics we cover will give you a glimpse of the breadth and depth of what .NET MAUI has to offer.

Agenda

Day 1: Foundations & Interactivity

Setting the Stage: Dive into project setup, tooling essentials, and kickstarting our .NET MAUI journey.
Device Dynamics: Harness key device features, transforming apps from static interfaces to responsive experiences.
Chat Mechanics: Understand real-time connectivity using SignalR, ensuring instantaneous communications.
Page turners: Explore intuitive page navigation and user experience elements.

Day 2: Advanced features and polish

Crafting maintainable apps: Familiarise with the MVVM pattern, organising your application's logic for maintainability and scalability.
Secure and personalise: Dive into user authentication techniques and craft tailored user profiles.
Beyond One-on-One: Grasp the nuances of creating chat groups and channels, fostering community interactions.
Engaging Practicality: Hands-on sessions to integrate your learnings, taking your chat app to the next level.

Tooling & Setup:

.NET 8 SDK
A suitable IDE or editor, e.g.:
Visual Studio with the .NET MAUI workload installed
Visual Studio for Mac with the .NET MAUI workload installed
VS Code with the .NET MAUI extension installed
JetBrains Rider
You’ll need a powerful enough Windows or Mac laptop to run the IDE and debug code while running on an emulator or simulator.

To get the most out of the workshop you’ll need a physical iOS or Android device to test your code on. For iOS devices, enrolment in the Apple Developer program will be helpful.

Matt Goldman

Solution Architect, SSW, SSW

Matt is a Solution Architect, Scrum Master, public speaker, author and trainer.

Matt loves making things and uses that passion to fuel his work with .NET, EF / EF Core, Xamarin, .NET MAUI, Azure and Blazor. Matt (author of .NET MAUI in Action) regularly presents at the .NET User Group in 3 states, has hosted SSW's Xamarin Hack Day and MAUI Hack Day, has presented at the .NET Superpowers Tour, and regularly co-hosts SSW's Clean Architecture Superpowers and Clean Architecture Workshop. Matt has also presented at NDC Sydney.

Drawing on a combination of hands-on experience and enterprise governance practices, Matt is able to make connections between business and technology to deliver user and business focused outcomes.

Matt has worked in IT for 15 years, and in addition to his development work has a background in infrastructure and management and consulting.