How to port swift based cocoapods to Xamarin

Question

I am trying to port cocoapods to xamarin.

Objective C based cocoapods can be ported by converting it into a static library(.a) and subsequently converting that as binding library in xamarin studio or visual studio

But Swift based cocoapods can not be converted into a static library and so it can't be ported to xamarin.

but swift can be converted into a dynamic framework but I couldn't find any way to port that to xamarin

Is there any other way to port swift based cocoapods or ios project into xamarin ?

To my beliefs this was not possible until know, but did a quick search and found this link: https://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/76272/binding-swift-libraries . It says it's not official but it could work. Give it a try. — pinedax, Mar 17 '17 at 01:27
The "supported" method is to use Obj-C to bridge to `Swift` and expose the API in Obj-C. Depending upon what the `Swift` API is providing and/or how it is inherited, there are ways to bind a `Swift` framework, here is one: http://stackoverflow.com/documentation/xamarin.ios/6091/binding-swift-libraries#t=201703170123590044331 — SushiHangover, Mar 17 '17 at 01:31
Personally `Swift` converts really well to `F#` (and C#) and converting the entire Swift framework is an option that should not be overlooked. I use a couple of Constraint and Animation "frameworks" that were originally written in Swift and that I "bound", the results kind of worked (extensions of course will not work, etc..etc...) but were ~30% slower than C#, so I transposed three of the Swift frameworks and the app was faster (load and run), much smaller due to the fact that 6 Swift support dylibs were not required and that the Linker could strip unused code, build times are faster, etc... — SushiHangover, Mar 17 '17 at 01:42
@SushiHangover - Thanks You mentioned the use of F# but is it supported in xamarin ? — Durai Amuthan.H, Mar 29 '17 at 10:10
@DuraiAmuthan.H `F#` and `C#` are officially supported languages across the entire Xamarin framework (iOS, Android and Forms), `VB` is also *supported* but only in a PCL-based library — SushiHangover, Mar 29 '17 at 16:30

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 22 '17 at 03:08

Binding a Swift Library in Xamarin.iOS follows the same process for Objective-C as shown in xamarin documentation

but with some caveats.

A swift class must inherit from NSObject to be binded.
Swift compiler will translate class and protocol names into something else, so you must specify the final name in the ApiDefinition.
In runtime your APP must include some swift core libraries alongside your binded framework in a folder called Frameworks;
When the App is pushed to AppStore it must include a SwiftSupport folder alongside your Payload folder. Those are inside the IPA file.

Here you can find a simple sample binding: https://github.com/Flash3001/Xamarin.BindingSwiftLibrarySample

And a full binding sample: https://github.com/Flash3001/iOSCharts.Xamarin

How to port swift based cocoapods to Xamarin

1 Answers1