A new .NET developer survey conducted by software company Progress through its subsidiary Telerik revealed many mobile developers remain unfamiliar with the Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Universal Windows Platform (UWP).
Progress' "2016 .NET Community Report" of more than 1,000 developers indicated UWP adoption is "slow but steady."
The survey showed 41 percent of mobile developers are still unfamiliar with UWP, while 35 percent said they are on-board with the platform.
"At the core of UWP apps is the idea that users want their experiences to be mobile across all their devices, and they want to use whatever device is most convenient or productive for the task at hand," Progress wrote in its report. "UWP provides a platform for achieving cross-platform support in desktop applications. However, it only targets Windows-based platforms."
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Source: Progress and Telerik, 2016 .NET Community Report |
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74 percent of developers are using JavaScript within the workplace.
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52 percent of .NET developers said they believe Xamarin/C# is the best option to go cross-platform mobile.
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38 percent described the opportunity to build and run .NET apps cross-platform as "amazing."
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Xamarin remains the top choice among native mobile developers (62 percent), while Apache Cordova was ranked as the top choice for hybrid/compiled mobile developers (43 percent).
In addition, Progress pointed out there are clear trends regarding what development paradigms suit cross-platform needs.
"Developers appear to embrace the 'mobile first, cloud first' mantra, while staying rooted with preferences and practicalities," Progress noted in its report.
UWP was originally introduced with Windows 8 as Windows Runtime. Today, the platform enables Windows 10 development with one application programming interface (API) set for PCs, tablets and phones.
To date, UWP has generated lukewarm interest from many developers, along with an editorial from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney in which he claimed Microsoft was "subverting the rights of developers" as part of its UWP initiative.
"Microsoft has launched new PC Windows features exclusively in UWP, and is effectively telling developers you can use these Windows features only if you submit to the control of our locked-down UWP ecosystem," Sweeney wrote in an editorial published by The Guardian. "They're curtailing users' freedom to install full-featured PC software, and subverting the rights of developers and publishers to maintain a direct relationship with their customers."
Despite the modest interest in UWP from many developers, Microsoft has shown no signs of moving away from the platform any time soon. The company even highlighted several UWP app releases at its Build conference in San Francisco last month, further showcasing its commitment to the platform's success.
For more:
- see the report (PDF, reg. req.)
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