Xamarin.Forms app SQL-server database options

Question

I've been studying Xamarin.Forms with goal of building cross-platform mobile app in VisualStudio2015. I've got a perfectly acceptable public facing web site but native app(s) are what the boss thinks we need.

The current web app hosted on IIS 7.5 uses a separate project(DLL) for database access to an on-premises SQL Server 2008 instance. This VStudio project exposes domain objects to the calling ASP.NET webforms by executing various stored procedures using System.Data.SqlClient.

I know building the mobile native app itself with Xamarin.Forms is one part of the challenge but I am asking here for clarification about how to approach the database requirements:

Do I need to create some sort of web service that provides the same CRUD functions required by my current web site?

Xamarin documentation lists several options for consuming web services and the more I search and read about data access I conclude that a callable web service of some type is going to be required for my eventual native mobile app.

Is this assumption correct?

Answer 1

Yes. You generally want a webservice layer brokering requests between your mobile app (or any remote client) and your DB server. If you already have all your crud operations in a separate library that is utilized by your website, then a webservice would just be another set of endpoints that rely on the same CRUD library.