Thank you for joining me in the Xamarin Dojo. This is your time and space for exercising the skills required to build cross platform mobile applications in C#. To make the most of your time, you will need to prepare a few things.

First, please go to Xamarin.com, register for a free account, and download Xamarin for Windows or for OS X. If you have downloaded Xamarin in the past, please run Xamarin Studio and check for updates.

Next, decide which platform you will build for during the Dojo. Based on your selection, you may need some additional resources:

• iOS on OS X – You’re all set. If you are using a Mac, this is your best choice for the Dojo.
• iOS on Windows – You will need to configure a Mac as your build host. I recommend against this for the Dojo. Consider building for Android instead.
• Android on OS X – You will want to bring an Android device. The emulator is very slow. I recommend you build for iOS for the Dojo if you have a Mac. If you are determined to choose this configuration, please run the Android SDK Manager as described below.
• Android on Windows – If you are using Windows, this is your best choice for the Dojo. Please install the Xamarin Player, or use an Android device. Also, take the time to open Xamarin Studio, open the Android SDK Manager (from the Tools menu), and install the recommended tools. Also include “Android SDK Build-tools”, which is not checked by default. This will take a while.

For the first Dojo, we will get an app built and deployed to your target platform. We will be using Xamarin Studio. All of the exercises we do at the Dojo will work with the free tier.