Google App Engine is Google's PaaS (Platform as a Service) and lets you run web applications directly on Google's infrastructure. With App Engine, there are no servers to maintain: you just upload your application, and it's ready to serve your users. App Engine features Python, Java, PHP, and Go development environments with NoSQL, MySQL, and Google Cloud storage engines. Applications with limited resource demands can be hosted for free, and larger applications are billed a-la-carte for usage of various resources.
Patrick Ladd is currently IT manager at Bottini Fuel. In his spare time, he is a member of Squidwrench makerspace and a Boy Scout leader.