Google App Engine is a unique hosting platform that lets you build applications and run them in Google's data centers using the massive global infrastructure built to run the Internet giant. App Engine offers a development environment that uses familiar technologies (Java and Python) and provides a powerful and robust set of APIs to users while maintaining security and independence from other apps running in the cloud.

It is always free to get started so you can try it out with no risk, and if you need additional computing resources, you can purchase additional computing resources beyond the free quota limits. Scale your application to millions of users and pay only for what you use at more competitive market pricing! In this informative session, we review cloud computing as an industry and where Google App Engine fits into the picture. Specifically, we discuss App Engine as a PaaS solution because of the inherent challenges of building web and other applications. We'll outline the architecture of App Engine, what its major components are, introduce its features and APIs, discuss the service and how it works (including information on the free quotas), and finally present some information about current users and usage, including integration with Google Apps and your private corporate data. Also be sure to attend the hands-on workshops where you'll build real apps and run locally and/or in production -- upload your app to Google and make it live to the world!