Is Google App Engine right for me?

Question

I am thinking about using Google App Engine.It is going to be a huge website. In that case, what is your piece of advice using Google App Engine. I heard GAE has restrictions like we cannot store images or files more than 1MB limit(they are going to change this from what I read in the GAE roadmap),query is limited to 1000 results, and I am also going to se web2py with GAE. So I would like to know your comments.

Thanks

Answer 1

Having developed a smallish site with GAE, I have some thoughts

• If you mean "huge" like "the next YouTube", then GAE might be a great fit, because of the previously mentioned scaling.

• If you mean "huge" like "massively complex, with a whole slew of screens, models, and features", then GAE might not be a good fit. Things like unit testing are hard on GAE, and there's not a built-in structure for your app that you'd get with something like (famously) (Ruby on) Rails, or (Python powered) Turbogears.

ie: there is no staging environment: just your development copy of the system and production. This may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your situation.

Additionally, it depends on the other Python modules you intend to pull in: some Python modules just don't run on GAE (because you can't talk to hardware, or because there are just too many files in the package).

Hope this helps

Answer 2

using web2py on Google App Engine is a great strategy. It lets you get up and running fast, and if you do outgrow the restrictions of GAE then you can move your web2py application elsewhere.

However, keeping this portability means you should stay away from the advanced parts of GAE (Task Queues, Transactions, ListProperty, etc).