Handling Platform-Specific Features - (Best Practices for .NET Standard)

.NET Standard is a set of APIs that can be shared among multiple .NET platforms, including .NET Framework, .NET Core, and Xamarin. However, each platform has its own set of APIs that may not be available in other platforms. In this tutorial, we'll discuss best practices for handling platform-specific features in .NET Standard.

Syntax

The syntax for handling platform-specific features in .NET Standard involves using preprocessor directives. Here's an example:

#if __IOS__
    // iOS-specific code here
#elif __ANDROID__
    // Android-specific code here
#else
    // Code for other platforms here
#endif

This code uses the __IOS__ and __ANDROID__ preprocessor directives to differentiate between iOS and Android platforms. Any code that's specific to a given platform can be included inside the corresponding directive block.

Example

Let's look at an example of how to use preprocessor directives to handle platform-specific features in .NET Standard. Suppose we have the following code that needs to make platform-specific calls:

using System;

public class MyClass
{
    public void MyMethod()
    {
        // Code that is common to all platforms
        // Code that is specific to iOS
        // Code that is specific to Android
        // Code that is specific to Windows
    }
}

To make this code platform-specific, we can modify it using preprocessor directives as follows:

using System;

public class MyClass
{
    public void MyMethod()
    {
        // Code that is common to all platforms
        
        #if __IOS__
            // iOS-specific code here
        #elif __ANDROID__
            // Android-specific code here
        #elif WINDOWS_UWP
            // Windows-specific code here
        #endif          
    }
}

This modified code uses preprocessor directives to specify platform-specific code. For example, the __IOS__ directive is used for iOS-specific code, while the __ANDROID__ directive is used for Android-specific code.

Explanation

The best way to handle platform-specific features in .NET Standard is to use preprocessor directives. By using these directives, you can determine at runtime which platform your code is running on and conditionally execute code that's platform-specific.

Use

Preprocessor directives in .NET Standard are useful when you're developing cross-platform applications that need to take advantage of platform-specific features. The directives allow you to write code that can be compiled on multiple platforms, but still execute platform-specific code when needed.

Important Points

Here are some important points to keep in mind when handling platform-specific features in .NET Standard:

• Use preprocessor directives to handle platform-specific features.
• Use platform-specific APIs only when necessary.
• Test your code on all supported platforms to ensure that it works as expected.

Summary

In this tutorial, we discussed best practices for handling platform-specific features in .NET Standard. We covered the syntax, example, explanation, use, and important points of handling platform-specific features using preprocessor directives in .NET Standard. By following these best practices, you can create cross-platform applications that take advantage of platform-specific features.