As many of you know, I use the C# programming language a lot for my Software Development work. With that being said, I often  use some third party libraries in order to speed up development time and perhaps add some new features. However, the libraries I have listed here are used in every one of my C# projects. If your favorite C# Library is not listed. Please leave a link to it in the comments section so I can try it out. Let’s get started.

1. Json.NET

I specialize in making web and mobile applications and being able to parse and create JSON data is extremely important to me. Json.Net is a really useful tool for parsing and creating JSON data in your applications. It requires no setup, just add it to your project using Nuget and your now your ready to start working with JSON Data. I recommend that you spend some time reading the documentation so you know how to use the library effectively. Especially when dealing with nested elements in JSON Data. There is also a very active community around this framework in case you get stuck or get confused on the functionality. I cant recommend this library enough.

2. RestSharp

I love using REST API’s in my applications. This type of API allows me to access data from databases and other sources by using the HTTP protocol. With that being said, I love using RestSharp in my applications. It provides an easy way to create web requests that you can send to your API endpoints in order to get data. Combining this with Json.Net, you have a pretty powerful way of sending and receiving JSON Data to an API and other services. I definitely recommend using this library especially if your a mobile app developer.

3. Geolocator Plugin for Xamarin and Windows

This is a relatively new discovery, This is a plugin that I used in a Xamarin application in order to get location data. Its pretty simple to set up and get working on both iOS and Android, However I have not used in on Windows. Combining this with some data from a REST API. you could create an application with nice location aware features.

4. Xam.Plugins.Messaging

This is another Xamarin Plugin that is very simple to use. This plugin makes it easy to send a email or a text message in your cross platform applications without having to write platform specific code. Very useful if you need to incorporate those features in your app.

5. PayPal .NET SDK

I’ve been getting a-lot of requests to integrate PayPal functionality into some of my current projects. While this may seem hard, PayPal offers a very nice wrapper for there API for .Net Developers. I recommend using the documentation on Github and the PayPal developers site to get you started. If your using ASP.Net, there is some configuration you have to do in your web.config in order get up and running. Once that is complete, you are now ready to start accepting PayPal.