How to find out if my assembly can be used by Mono, MonoTouch, MonoDroid?

Question

I am brand new to Mono. I have a .NET Framework 3.5 assembly and I want to know if I can use it with mono. Specifically:

1. Do I need to compile my .NET Project with Mono or will Mono run my .NET Assembly compiled from Visual Studio?

2. Are there separate MonoDroid and MonoTouch Compilers?

3. Does mono work with obfuscated assemblies?

4. How do I test my assemblies in Mono, MonoDroid, and MonoTouch? Do I actually need to buy an Android and an IPhone or are there mono emulators?

Answer 1

1. Mono will run assemblies compiled with Visual Studio. MonoTouch and Mono for Android assemblies generally needs to be re-compiled with the supplied mono compiler to ensure it's compiled against the right framework assemblies (so you're not using features that won't be available at runtime);

2. Each ship with it's own smcs compiler but they are mostly identical (between MonoTouch and Mono for Android), ie one might be a bit more up to date than the other depending on the release date;

3. It depends how the obfuscation is done. Some tools will do things that are not ECMA compliant but that the MS JIT allows. Those tricks might now work on Mono.

4. Both MonoTouch and Mono for Android are available as trials and will work with either the iOS simulator (MonoTouch) or the Android emulator (Mono for Android). However simulators and emulators are not the real thing (eg performance or even features) so you'll eventually need devices to make sure things works as you expect (but you can start without hardware).

Answer 2

You may wish to run your code against the mono migration analyser to see what fails or isn't supported. You can find the tool here: http://www.mono-project.com/MoMA .

You can also take a look at current mono compatibility with various .Net features at http://www.mono-project.com/Compatibility .