Android’s app count, while not quite as gigantic as iOS’ (iPhone/iPad), is doing just fine. It passed the 200,000 mark as 2010 came to a close. But, we may seem an interesting tick upwards and a new mix of developers entering the Android app fray because of the introduction of a new tool.
Mono is an Open Source project that has ported Microsoft’s .NET framework to non-Windows platforms like Linux. Mono for Android lets developers who program using the C# language and arefamiliar with Microsoft .NET develop applications for Android-based smartphones and tablets. The project lists these features for Mono for Android:
- C# and .NET on Android phones and tablets
- .NET Bindings to Native APIs
- Distribute on the Android Market, and other Android App Stores
- Enterprise deployable
- Visual Studio 2010 Integration
The Mono for Android project has a pair of introductory development tutorials available here for .Net programmers who are interested in developing for Android.
