Google Data

It’s been a busy past few months for the App Engine team and we’re doing a ton of great stuff at I/O this year.

First up, we are happy to announce version 1.3.4 of the App Engine SDK for Python and Java developers. This release has a number of additional features including:

• A brand new bulkloader - The new bulkloader is based on a powerful declarative syntax for importing and exporting data, and is designed for use with both Python and Java applications.
• Experimental support for OpenID built into the Users API as well as OAuth support. These libraries provide greatly increased support for a variety of authentication types. They also make it considerably easier for developers to build applications for the Google Apps Marketplace.
• The Blobstore API has graduated and is no longer an experimental API. It now supports files up to 2GB in size!
• Assorted smaller bug fixes (please read the release notes for more details).

With 1.3.4, we are also announcing we will be deprecating support for Java 1.5. Developers using 1.5 will now see warnings when building their applications informing them that they should upgrade their version of Java. 1.5 will be supported for at least the next two releases of the SDK and 1.5 will continue to be supported on the App Engine service with previous versions of the SDK for three years.

We’re also demoing a few upcoming features of App Engine at I/O as part of our sessions:

• Mapper API - A simple library for executing work in parallel over a large dataset, such as all your datastore entities or line-based data in a Blobstore blob.
• Channel API - The Channel API lets you build applications that can push content directly to your user’s browser (aka “Comet”). No more polling for updates!

There will be opportunities for you to experiment with both APIs in the near future, so keep an eye on the Google Group and this blog for updates.

We’re also excited to announce that we will be adding App Engine to the Google Qualified Developer program in the near future. If you’re interested in becoming a qualified developer, and helping to develop the curriculum for future programs, you can visit the Developer Qualifications page and sign up to be a member of our first class!

Finally, if you are one of the developers joining us at I/O, make sure to check out the App Engine I/O sessions, visit the App Engine Developers in the Developer Sandbox, and swing by the office hours to talk with the App Engine team, or just to hang out! We look forward to seeing you there.