Essential App Engine Building... | Buy

Summary

Cloud computing fundamentally changes the way applications are created and managed. When done right, system administration becomes trivial, and concerns about adequate hardware, capacity planning, or scalability are virtually eliminated. With Google's App Engine, millions of Java developers can quickly begin to develop cost-effective systems to operate in the cloud. However, when Java developers use familiar frameworks and techniques to build these systems, they often encounter surprising, unexpected performance problems. Essential App Engineteaches a start-to-finish approach to performance-driven App Engine development with Java. Using this book, Java developers can master all the concepts and techniques they need, from application design through data storage, task scheduling through security. Coverage includes: Systematically maximizing performance without compromising maintainability -- creating applications that are 10x+ faster on cold startup, and offer quick server response throughout their sessions Avoiding or minimizing the use of frameworks and libraries that cause performance problems Improving browser performance through the proper use of HTTP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and profiling Modeling data for App Engine's non-SQL data storage Ensuring app quality and managing development efficiently, through deployment and beyond Working with the Channel, Multitenancy, and Capabilities APIs, as well as newer features like High Replication Datastore, Always On, and Warm Up Requests

Author Biography

Adriaan de Jonge is an architect and online software development specialist at ANWB, the Dutch association for tourism, traffic, and roadside assistance. There, he works on Internet projects including developing sites that offer car and traffic information and sites that sell products, insurance, and vacations. De Jonge has worked in multiple roles, ranging from researcher and consultant to software architect, and has written several articles for IBM developerWorks on new Java, XML, Web, and content management technologies. He holds a degree in informatics and economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Introduction xix

Acknowledgments xxvii

About the Author xxix

Part I: An App Engine Overview 1

Chapter 1: Setting Up a Development Environment 3

Working with Eclipse Tools 3

Deploying from the Command Line 14

Summary 16

Chapter 2: Improving App Engine Performance 17

Performing in the Cloud 17

Measuring the Cost of Class Loading 18

Avoiding Cold Startups 24

Improving Performance in General 25

Summary 27

Part II: Application Design Essentials 29

Chapter 3: Understanding the Anatomy of a Google App Engine Application 31

Uploading Files for Dynamic Deployment 31

Setting Up the Directory Structure 33

Configuring the Administration Panel 41

Summary 44

Chapter 4: Data Modeling for the Google App Engine Datastore 45

Moving Away from Relational Storage 45

Modeling Data 47

Working with Data 52

Summary 55

Chapter 5: Designing Your Application 57

Gathering Requirements 57

Choosing a Toolkit 58

Making Design Choices 61

Summary 65

Part III: User Interface Design Essentials 67

Chapter 6: Presenting the User Interface with HTML5 69

Introducing HTML5 69

Using Basic HTML5 Elements 70

Drawing Images Using the Canvas 72

Dragging and Dropping Items into Pages 74

Improving Form Elements 76

Detecting a User’s Geolocation 77

Storing Data on the Client Side 78

Summary 83

Chapter 7: Fine-Tuning the Layout Using CSS3 85

Selecting Elements Using CSS3 85

Using New Graphical Effects in CSS3 92

Summary 98

Chapter 8: Adding Static Interactions Using JavaScript 99

Setting Up a Simplistic Example 99

Cleaning Up HTML Using Unobtrusive JavaScript 102

Reducing JavaScript Dependence by Progressively Enhancing the HTML 106

Optimizing Performance Using Event Delegation 109

Avoiding Global Variables 110

Summary 112

Chapter 9: Adding Dynamic Interactions Using AJAX 113

Using Classic AJAX without Frameworks 113

Using Google App Engine’s Channel API 120

Summary 125

Part IV: Using Common App Engine APIs 127

Chapter 10: Storing Data in the Datastore and Blobstore 129

Processing Data Synchronously 129

Processing Data Asynchronously 136

Setting Up Transactions 141

Using Multitenancy to Introduce Namespaces 144

Storing and Retrieving Large Files 146

Uploading Bulk Data Using the Remote API 151

Summary 153

Chapter 11: Sending and Receiving E-Mail 155

Sending Confirmation E-Mails with HTML and Attachments 155

Receiving E-Mail 161

Considering Performance and Quota 167

Summary 169

Chapter 12: Running Background Work with the Task Queue API and Cron 171

Task Queuing 171

Scheduling Tasks Using Cron 180

Reading HTTP Headers 182

Summary 185

Chapter 13: Manipulating Images with the App Engine Image Service 187

Minimizing the Use of the Image API 187

Reading and Writing Images 187

Performing Simple Manipulations 195

Performing Advanced Manipulations 198

Summary 201

Chapter 14: Optimizing Performance Using the Memory Cache 203

Using the Cache API for Basic Purposes 203

Implementing a Caching Strategy 206

Working with Fine-Grained Cache 209

Maintaining a Cache 210

Using Other Cache Utility Methods 213

Using JSR 107 as an Alternative API 214

Summary 214

Chapter 15: Retrieving External Data Using URL Fetch 215

Reading URLs Using GET Requests 215

Reading Results 218

Adding Options to URL Fetch 219

Posting Form Data 223

Fetching URLs Asynchronously 224

Consuming Web Services 226

Considering Security 226

Summary 227

Chapter 16: Securing a Web Application Using Google Accounts, OpenID, and OAuth 229

Authenticating Users with Google Accounts 229

Authenticating Users with OpenID 232

Providing Access to Third Parties Using OAuth 235

Securing URLs in web.xml 237

Security Considerations 239

Summary 240

Chapter 17: Sending and Receiving Messages Using XMPP 241

Sending Messages Using XMPP 241

Receiving Messages Using XMPP 244

Receiving Subscriptions 246

Receiving Presence 249

Summary 251

Part V: Application Deployment 253

Chapter 18: Improving the Development Process 255

Optimizing the Development Process for the Internet 255

Thinking Like a Project Manager 256

Reducing Overhead 256

Improving Functionality 258

Measuring Quality 260

Optimizing Developer Productivity 261

Summary 262

Chapter 19: Assuring Quality Using Measuring Tools 263

Testing on a Production Environment 263

Thinking Differently about Usability 265

Checking Availability with the Capabilities API 265

Logging Unexpected Behavior 269

Profiling Continuously on Production 271

Measuring User Response to Your Interface 273

Summary 275

Chapter 20: Selling Your Application 277

Determining How to Approach Sales 277

Knowing Your Audience 277

Reaching Your Audience 278

Converting Prospects into Paying Customers 286

Handling the Payment Process 286

Summary 287

Index 289

Supplemental Materials

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