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Google App Engine

Key Points about Google App Engine:

  1. Scalable Runtime Environment:

    • Purpose: Primarily used for running web applications.
    • Scalability: Dynamically scales based on demand, leveraging Google's extensive computing infrastructure.

  2. Secure Execution Environment:

    • Advantage: Provides a secure execution environment for developing scalable and high-performance web applications.

  3. Dynamic Scaling:

    • Response to Demand: Applications scale up or down in response to changing demand.

  4. Services Offered:

    • Included Services: Croon tasks, communications, scalable data stores, work queues, and in-memory caching.

  5. App Engine SDK:

    • Facilitation: Enables testing and professionalization of applications by emulating the production runtime environment.
    • Development and Testing: Allows developers to design and test applications on their personal computers before migration to App Engine.

  6. Language Support:

    • Supported Languages: Python, Java, and Go.

  7. Fully Managed PaaS Platform:

    • Platform Type: Fully managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) cloud computing platform.

  8. Infrastructure Similarity:

    • Infrastructure: Uses the same infrastructure as Google's large-scale internet services.

  9. Quick Start:

    • SDK Usage: Once developers receive the Software Development Kit (SDK), they can start creating applications almost immediately.
    • Developer Resources: Access to the Google app developer's manual is available, allowing developers to choose their preferred language for app development.

Features of Google App Engine: Runtimes and Languages:

  1. Supported Languages:

    • Options: Allows developers to create applications using Go, Java, PHP, or Python.

  2. Local Development and Testing:

    • SDK Deployment Toolkit: Facilitates local development and testing through the SDK's deployment toolkit.

  3. Unique Runtimes for Each Language:

    • Java Runtime: Executes programs in a Java Runtime Environment version 7.
    • Python Runtime: Runs programs in a Python Runtime Environment version 2.7.
    • PHP Runtime: Utilizes a PHP 5.4 environment for the PHP runtime.
    • Go Runtime: Operates in a Go runtime 1.2 environment.

  4. Language-Specific SDK and Runtime:

    • Distinct SDKs: Each supported language has its own Software Development Kit (SDK) and runtime.

  5. Local Environment Emulation:

    • SDK Tools: Allows developers to emulate the runtime environment locally on their machines during development and testing.

  6. Version-Specific Runtimes:

    • Java Version: Specifically utilizes Java Runtime Environment version 7.
    • Python Version: Specifically uses Python Runtime Environment version 2.7.
    • PHP Version: Runs on a PHP 5.4 environment.
    • Go Version: Operates within a Go runtime 1.2 environment.

Advantages of Google App Engine:

  1. Secure Infrastructure: Google's internet infrastructure is very safe, making it hard for unauthorized access to your app data and code.

  2. Quick Time to Market: Getting your product or service to market fast is crucial for any organization. Google App Engine helps speed up product release, supporting the swift growth of a firm.

  3. Fast Start: No need to spend a lot of time on prototypes or deploying the app to users since there's no hardware or product to buy and maintain.

  4. User-Friendly: Google App Engine includes tools for creating, testing, launching, and updating applications, making it easy to use.

  5. Rich Set of APIs & Services: Built-in APIs and services enable developers to create powerful, feature-rich apps.

  6. Scalability: Google App Engine allows access to technologies like GFS and Big Table, ensuring scalability and success for your software.

  7. Performance and Reliability: Google is known for high performance and reliability, making it a trustworthy choice for your app.

  8. Cost Savings: No need to hire engineers or manage servers yourself. The money saved can be used for developing other areas of your company.

  9. Platform Independence: Google App Engine has few dependencies, providing platform independence for your applications, you can easily relocate all of your data to another environment.

Programming Environment for Google App Engine:

The App Engine standard environment is based on container instances running on Google's network, with predefined runtime options. Applications in this environment operate in a safe, sandboxed space, allowing scalability to handle increased traffic. Supported languages include Python, Java, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, and Go.

Instance Classes: Memory and CPU allocations for each instance, along with free quota and hourly cost after quota exhaustion, are determined by the instance class. Memory cap considerations apply to all runtime generations, and Java runtimes may consume more memory.

Features:

  1. Customizable Infrastructure - App Engine Flexible Environment:

    • Utilizes Compute Engine virtual machines.
    • Supports Docker containers, custom libraries, and SSH for debugging.

  2. Performance Options:

    • Choose from various CPU and memory setups.
    • Infrastructure scales based on CPU and memory requirements.

  3. Native Feature Support:

    • Supports content delivery networks, microservices, authorization, databases, traffic splitting, logging, versioning, and security scanning.

  4. Managed Virtual Machines:

    • App Engine manages virtual machines for health, updates, and co-location with other services.
    • Automatic application of crucial and backward-compatible updates to the base operating system.
    • Instances located globally for optimum performance.

Known Issues in App Engine Flexible Environment:

  • Deployment may take 1-2 minutes before serving at the provided URL, potentially encountering HTTP 503 failures.
  • Organization policies restricting access to external IPs may cause deployment failures.
  • Metric display may show a temporary decrease when deploying a new version, gradually reverting to expected counts.
  • Automatic redirection to HTTPS is not possible in the App Engine Flexible Environment.
  • Assigning a user-managed service account to an App Engine flexible environment version may incur charges for agent.googleapis.com-prefixed metrics.