Code, Cloud & AI

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 In this episode, I sat down with Gerald Versluis from Microsoft’s .NET MAUI team for a wide-ranging conversation that started with mental health, sunlight, and fitness, and quickly moved into the future of cross-platform app development. Gerald shared what it’s like building .NET MAUI today, why creating apps for iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows from one C#/.NET codebase is still a deeply complex challenge, and how the platform has matured from its Xamarin roots into something far more capable for production use. We also talked about Blazor Hybrid, native UI versus web-based approaches, and why MAUI continues to be an appealing option for .NET developers who want flexibility across platforms.

The biggest theme of our conversation was how AI and Copilot are transforming the way Gerald’s team works. He explained how Microsoft’s MAUI team is using AI not just to generate code, but to review pull requests, validate fixes, interact with running apps, and even expand MAUI into new territory like Linux support through the new MAUI Labs efforts. We explored practical patterns for agentic development, custom instructions, skills, MCP servers, and self-verifying workflows, along with the broader implications for software careers, education, and the future of developer productivity. If you want a grounded but exciting look at what AI-assisted software development already looks like inside a real product team, this episode delivers.

 People / Social

 • Gerald Versluis (guest) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jfversluis
• Gerald Versluis on X/Twitter (@jfversluis): https://twitter.com/jfversluis
• Gerald Versluis on GitHub: https://github.com/jfversluis
• Gerald Versluis website/blog: https://blog.verslu.is
• Jonathan Dick (creator of DevFlow, .NET MAUI team) on GitHub: https://github.com/Redth
• David Fowler (Microsoft, mentioned re: Aspire) on GitHub: https://github.com/davidfowl

Microsoft / .NET

• .NET MAUI: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/apps/maui
• .NET MAUI on GitHub: https://github.com/dotnet/maui
• MAUI Labs (mentioned explicitly): https://github.com/dotnet/maui-labs
• DevFlow (in MAUI Labs): https://github.com/dotnet/maui-labs/tree/main/DevFlow
• Blazor Hybrid: https://learn.microsoft.com/aspnet/core/blazor/hybrid/
• .NET for iOS (formerly Xamarin.iOS): https://github.com/dotnet/macios
• .NET for Android: https://github.com/dotnet/android
• .NET Aspire: https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspire/
• Microsoft Learn (docs): https://learn.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Loop: https://loop.cloud.microsoft

GitHub / Copilot tooling

• GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot
• GitHub Copilot CLI: https://docs.github.com/copilot/github-copilot-in-the-cli
• GitHub Agentic Workflows: https://github.com/githubnext/gh-aw
• GitHub Actions: https://github.com/features/actions

Partner UI frameworks

• Avalonia UI: https://avaloniaui.net
• Uno Platform: https://platform.uno

Other tools / libraries

• Lottie animations: https://lottiefiles.com
• Rive (interactive animations): https://rive.app
• Appium (UI test framework): https://appium.io
• Anthropic Claude (Opus 4.6 referenced): https://www.anthropic.com/claude
• Duolingo (mentioned re: Rive animations): https://www.duolingo.com

Off-topic / lifestyle

• Hyrox (fitness race, Maastricht / Lisbon / Madrid mentioned): https://hyrox.com