According to Microsoft, the Visual Studio Code extension .NET MAUI (Multi-Platform App UI) has completed its preview phase and is now available as a production-ready version. The extension, which is designed for cross-platform development of mobile and desktop applications on Windows and macOS, provides support for XAML IntelliSense and XAML Hot Reload for the first time in the current release. In addition, the .NET MAUI extension for Visual Studio Code is the official successor to Visual Studio for Mac, which Microsoft discontinues in August 2023 – with VS Code, the range of functions is now comparable.
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XAML IntelliSense and XAML Hot Reload are also now available
While version 17.6 of Visual Studio for Mac will receive support through security and platform updates until the end of August 2024, Microsoft is constantly focusing on the further development of Visual Studio and VS Code – especially with regard to creating cross-platform applications. With the .NET MAUI extension, which is based on the C# Dev Kit and C# extensions, the code editor should be able to provide all the relevant functions that developers need to be able to create apps for various mobile and desktop devices.
Thanks to XAML IntelliSense, the extension can be used for, among other things, code completion – also fully automatically supported by Copilot. This not only provides appropriate tooltips when creating UIs, but also makes navigation within the code easier. The XAML Hot Reload feature allows developers to edit their code while debugging and see live UI updates. While XAML Hot Reload is enabled by default, the feature is still considered experimental for C# – and is therefore disabled.
Point of criticism: Limited cross-platform support
Like its predecessor Xamarin, which was aimed at cross-platform development, MAUI also targets Windows, macOS (Mac Catalyst: desktop and iPad apps), iOS, Android and Samsung’s Tizen. However, since switching to MAUI Microsoft has discontinued support for Linux – which has happened before Heated discussion has led.
After the removal of Visual Studio for Mac, restrictions on Apple platforms also increase: since the MAUI extension requires the C# Dev Kit, switching from Visual Studio for Mac to VS Code still requires a Visual Studio license. As per dev class There is growing general criticism of the .NET MAUI extension, now available in version 1.1.6, as well as the C# Dev Kit. A component called WinAppDriver, which is needed, among other things, when testing UIs with the open source tool Appium, is problematic in this context.
WinAppDriver hasn’t been updated in four years A discussion on GitHub shows. To date, the software is only available for Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016, but not Windows 11. Microsoft employee Gerald Versluis responds to criticism Detailed instructions for using MAUI extension with Appium It reacts and assured in a statementThe WinAppDriver version 1.2.1 they recommend can be used without any problems.
More info about VS Code extensions
More information about the .NET MAUI extension for Visual Studio Code can be found in the announcement article Microsoft Developer Blog,
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