I have been looking to build a web-app and host it. My options were
- To take a server and deploy it using IaaS like Azure, AWS or GCP
- Deploy it using PaaS like Heroku
Honestly speaking, I didn't know any other PaaS for deploying Python apps except for Heroku. Before investing my time and knowledge of understanding the service, I was looking for if any other alternatives exist.
My idea is to understand the different choices I have. Learn the pros and cons, before taking it up (Never test the depth of a river with both feet)
My checks before taking the choice are:
- Simplicity
- Focus more on code than deployment
The choice was Google App Engine. Even though it was launched almost at the same time of Heroku, it didn't go well in the beginning. It was known for being notoriously hard and it did suck.
But now, things have changed. It has become a mature product with an excellent CLI. It really stands to what it claims, just focus on your code and Google takes the responsibility of deploying it with minimal setup from the developer.
It supports both Python 2.7 and 3.x. Has excellent documentation to get you started. You can build web applications and mobile backends.
Now Google App Engine (GAE) is a part of Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The pricing of the GAE is simple enough and more economical than it's counterparts(It would be a whole another post if we talk about cloud pricing). It has got free daily quotas, which is more than enough to tinker to build your personal applications and test them. And of course its scalable, I have a complete belief in the capabilities of Google regarding the scalability.
And there are many other services offered by GCP such as storage solutions, machine learning solutions and much more. All of them fit together beautifully.
So far, it has been a great fit for me for building my pet projects and haven't found cons so far as long as I am inside Google environment. I believe Google would be a force to reckon with in the cloud space with its rich cloud ecosystem and a very affordable pricing strategy.
Please comment about your experiences with GAE below.
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