This week, all eyes of the software community will be fixed on Microsoft’s Build conference. Microsoft and its partners are set to announce new technologies and lay out their vision for the future of software development. In recent years, the narrative has taken a decidedly cross-platform approach. Visual Studio Code gives developers tools to create what they want, no matter their OS of choice. .NET Core extends the reach of the popular .NET Framework to Mac and Linux. Finally, Xamarin, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2016, lets app developers write their app once, then publish it for Android, iOS, and Windows devices.
As a Visual Studio 2017 Premier Launch Partner, PreEmptive Solutions is pleased to announce, as part of Microsoft Build 2017, a new way to integrate Dotfuscator’s protection into Xamarin apps. This new Dotfuscator-Xamarin integration has many advantages:
- Easy setup: Developers just download an MSBuild targets file and import it into their projects with a few simple property changes. There is no longer a need to define custom targets or copy files as a post-build step!
- Deep pipeline integration: The new integration automatically integrates Dotfuscator into the Xamarin build pipeline, protecting apps built in Visual Studio or MSBuild. Developers don’t have to worry about forgetting the protection step since it’s now included as part of the build.
- Incremental builds: Don’t waste time reapplying Dotfuscator’s protection when your project hasn’t changed. The integration is smart enough to know when a build is necessary and can be skipped.
- Automatic configuration: Get up and running quickly: The integration automatically creates a Dotfuscator config file with sensible defaults for the project. Instructions for further configuration include a case study to discover which additional identifiers (if any) need to be excluded from renaming obfuscation.
- Detailed instructions: We’ve detailed how to use the integration with a well-known Xamarin.Forms sample. Developers can see the practical application of these instructions through an included git repo, which walks through the process step-by-step.
- All major project types supported: The integration supports projects targeting Android, iOS, and Universal Windows (UWP).
- Proven protection strategy: Dotfuscator, the industry-standard .NET obfuscation and protection tool, protects the app.
- Free to start: The integration works with the commercial Dotfuscator Professional Edition and Dotfuscator Community Edition (CE), which is included with Visual Studio. Developers can use the integration to quickly discover the capabilities of Dotfuscator’s protection.
To start, see Integrating Dotfuscator’s Protection into Your Xamarin Apps in Visual Studio. There, you can read the step-by-step instructions and download the necessary MSBuild targets file.
We plan to keep introducing features like this to make the protection process easier and more accurate for Xamarin and all other kinds of apps. Visit the Dotfuscator Downloads page to stay up-to-date with the latest Dotfuscator features. For announcements and other information, watch our blog and follow our Twitter account, @PreEmptive.
