Google App Engine creation process live on Twitter
I'm watching Dion Hinchcliffe and a small group of other observers and developers create a Google App Engine (GAE) application live via Twitter.
We're on the cutting edge of using social media and near-real time collaboration tools (free) to learn and use (GAE) for free, and then blog on the process (also free). The price is obviously right, and the ease and transparency of sharing and witnessing are just about friction-free.
[UPDATE: The goods on the Enterprise Social Graph application are here. The application is here. ... Up and running.]
As Dion points out (and Dan Farber makes note), there are trade-offs between GAE and Amazon Web Services. And there are concerns to be evaluated and vetted over the application lifecycle remaining in the Google cloud, as Garett Rogers makes note.
But the process I'm witnessing here on Twitter is nothing short of breathtaking for its rapid, agile and productive online team approach (we are located all over) to web app development. Other Google services could be used, too, like Groups. There's already a GAE Group. And, of course, developers are well acquainted with other forms of collaboration such as CollabNet.
[UPDATE: Some big take-aways:
@eikeon For a toolkit that has been in widespread use for only a few days though, I'm impressed with the depth overall. Just nits for now.
OK, one of the biggest findings today is that GAE webapp framework should support openid. Google Accounts is way too closed.
Just spent an hour discovering that the Python cgi package breaks GAE apps. Not happy with the wasted time, was cruising fast.
Very cool, GAE datastore makes it easy to keep data contextualized to the logged in user.
Retweet: Excellent point @folknology on OpenSocial using Atom for social data. That is the simplicity and straightforwardness we need.
So our EnterpriseSocialGraph instance will be live at http://onegraph.org as soon as the DNS records propagate around the cloud.
See the entire Twitter discussion for the process around this GAE group development project, it's fascinating and offers fast insights to what's good and still needs work for building using GAE.]
If even for minor apps, services, or for prototyping development of subsets of large projects, this is all very compelling. I'm fascinated by how developers will use GAE within existing projects and processes. GAE will not be used in isolation, I suspect, but will be a powerful tool in the WOA quiver. And that may also prompt more use of GAE as the end-all, be-all for more an more apps.
I know a lot of people use Amazon as a test bed for their apps. Google App Engine will be very attractive for that too.
But what Google can soon bring to the table is an ability to put these apps and services in front of a ton of other developers and huge potential audiences of end users and consumers. Google has clout of scale, metadata and reach that Amazon does not.
Like others, I hope that Google adds more tools to Python on GAE, like Ruby. I also hope they find a way to port parts or all of the apps off of GAE. Perhaps for a cost, you could choose to not only deploy via the Google cloud, but perhaps get the basic script and code for extraction and use elsewhere, or for mixed-purpose development.
OpenID and other federated ID management and single sign-on access and authentication options will also be in demand.
Bungee Labs has that option, that the developers' own the code IP and can take the apps elsewhere. [Disclosure: Bungee Labs is a sponsor of BriefingsDirect podcasts.] There will be many permutations on the PaaS theme.
But Dion's open demo of GAE should appeal to enterprise developers as they seek the best ways to move to SOA, WOA, and better ways to reach large ready-made audiences for their applications.
What's more, once corporate marketers get wind of this -- that they can build apps and reach huge audiences with their message and wares -- they will be a major push in the enterprise to use GAE.
[UPDATE: Excellent primer on GAE by Redmonk's Stephen O'Grady.]