March 2014 Summaries

Google BigQuery has introduced significant updates that enhance user experience by making data analysis more efficient and cost-effective. Key improvements include a 1,000-fold increase in streaming capacity, allowing up to 100,000 rows per second per table, along with new table wildcard functions that simplify querying partitioned tables based on date and pattern criteria. The platform now supports more advanced SQL features such as multi-join and CROSS JOIN, as well as the ability to save queries as views for complex analysis. Enhancements also include user-defined metadata annotations for better dataset identification, JSON parsing functions for handling flexible schemas, and fast parallel exports for seamless integration with external tools. Additionally, storage costs have been reduced by 68% and querying costs by 85%, with streaming costs cut by 90%, alongside options for reserved processing capacity to allow for predictable pricing. Open-source contributions continue to expand BigQuery's ecosystem, with new connectors for R, Python, and Ruby, enhancing its accessibility and utility in diverse programming environments.

Google Cloud Platform is bridging the gap between Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) by introducing Managed Virtual Machines and Google Cloud Deployment Manager, allowing developers to benefit from both flexibility and productivity. Managed Virtual Machines enable developers to run applications on Google Compute Engine while leveraging the auto-management services of Google App Engine, facilitating the use of diverse programming languages and direct access to system resources. Google Cloud Deployment Manager provides a declarative approach to deploying and managing cloud resources, simplifying configuration and enhancing scalability by using parameterizable templates. Additionally, Google has announced support for various operating systems, including SuSE and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, alongside price reductions for virtual machines and several services, aiming to offer simpler and more cost-effective cloud solutions.

With the release of the Google Cast SDK, creating interactive TV experiences has become as straightforward as developing for the web, as demonstrated by Google Creative Lab and Hook Studios with Photowall for Chromecast. This Chrome Experiment allows users to collaboratively add photos to a TV-displayed photo wall in real-time using their mobile devices. The process involves using the Google Cast SDK’s sender and receiver APIs to communicate with the Chromecast, with a simple setup that generates a unique code for guests to connect their devices. A mesh network, managed by a node.js server application on Google Compute Engine and coordinated by a Google App Engine app, facilitates communication and photo storage. Despite challenges with websocket disconnections on iOS devices, solutions such as periodic socket checks were implemented to ensure seamless operation. Photowall also offers a custom photo editing experience, including options for cropping, doodling, and captioning photos before sharing. This project showcases the potential of Chromecast beyond mere content streaming, hinting at future innovations with the Google Cast SDK.

In March 2014, Google introduced new developer experiences for the Google Cloud Platform, aimed at enhancing productivity and simplifying the process of managing applications in production. These updates included tools for isolating and fixing production issues more efficiently, such as a 'Diff' link on the Releases page to track code changes and a real-time logs viewer to aggregate and filter logs. Additionally, Google introduced features allowing developers to edit and commit code directly from the source viewer in the Console, streamlining the debugging process without a local setup. The push-to-deploy system was enhanced with Git integration, facilitating seamless deployment from GitHub repositories and supporting Java builds with Maven and Jenkins. The Google Cloud SDK was updated with a new 'gcloud' command to simplify project setup and management, allowing developers to quickly initialize projects and trigger deployments. These improvements reflect Google’s commitment to providing an integrated ecosystem of tools that enhance productivity and facilitate seamless deployments.

Google I/O 2014 introduced a new registration process for its conference, moving away from the first-come-first-served model to a random selection system for applicants who register between April 8 and 10. This change aims to alleviate the rush and stress typically associated with securing a spot. The event, held in San Francisco, offers alternatives for those unable to attend in person, including livestreams of keynotes and sessions, as well as I/O Extended events in various locations. The Google I/O 2014 website provides further details and updates, while the organizers express their commitment to delivering an exceptional experience for attendees, whether on-site or virtual.

In March 2014, the Dart developer community celebrated the release of Dart 1.0 by organizing over 120 global Dart Flight School events, attracting 8,500 developers who learned to build modern web and server applications with Dart and AngularDart. These events, held in diverse locations such as Laos, France, Uganda, San Francisco, New Delhi, and Bolivia, provided opportunities for attendees to gain practical experience and knowledge. Highlights included unique venues like a decommissioned 747 in the Netherlands and the Museum of Flight in Seattle, and simultaneous events in eight Chinese cities via Hangouts on Air. The initiative was made possible by the dedication of community organizers, speakers, volunteers, and attendees, and it was promoted by Seth Ladd, a Developer Advocate for Dart, who expressed gratitude for the community's efforts and hinted at future events with the playful suggestion of "Next time, space!"

At the Google Cloud Platform Live event in March 2014, Google announced significant updates to its Cloud Platform, emphasizing reduced and simplified pricing, enhanced DevOps tools, and the introduction of Managed Virtual Machines for App Engine. The company introduced lower costs for services in line with Moore's Law, highlighting price reductions across Compute Engine, App Engine, Cloud Storage, and BigQuery, along with Sustained-Use Discounts for continuous workloads. These changes aim to offer developers more productivity by enabling seamless cloud-based development without the need for extensive setup or workflow changes. Google also expanded support for various operating systems on Compute Engine and introduced real-time data stream analysis with BigQuery Streaming, allowing for efficient handling of large datasets. The overarching goal is to provide developers with a flexible, cost-effective platform that combines the benefits of virtual machines with the automated scaling of App Engine, while ensuring affordability and performance without long-term commitments or upfront costs.

In March 2014, Google Calendar API introduced enhancements that simplify integration and improve functionality for developers. A notable feature allows developers to use custom event IDs, such as delivery IDs, which eliminates the complexity of matching events with internal databases and opens up new integration possibilities, like automatic rescheduling if an event is declined. Additionally, developers can leverage the API to configure notifications for different types of calendar changes, such as new events or guest responses. These enhancements aim to provide a better experience for developers and foster innovative integrations, as detailed in the Google Calendar API v3 documentation. Lucia Fedorova, the Tech Lead of the Google Calendar API team, emphasizes the focus on improving developer experience and integration capabilities.

The JavaScript Maps API has integrated support for GeoJSON, simplifying the process for developers to visualize and represent richer, location-based data on websites with cleaner code. GeoJSON is a widely accepted format for sharing geographic data, and with this update, developers can easily load GeoJSON files onto maps, such as datasets from the US Geological Survey, by adding a single line of code. The new Data layer feature allows developers to treat datasets as cohesive units, enabling the representation of various attributes and the application of dynamic styling functions that automatically update as data is added or modified. This innovation aims to streamline mapping processes and enhance the visual representation of data, with extensive resources and support available for developers to explore this new capability.

Android Wear was announced by Google as a platform extending Android to wearable devices, aiming to provide users with timely information through voice-responsive watches that support fitness goals and multi-screen interactions. Developers are encouraged to engage with the Android Wear Developer Preview, which allows them to customize app notifications and test them on both square and round wearables using an emulator. The preview includes new APIs for enhancing notifications with voice replies and additional features, and developers are invited to join the Android Wear Developers community to discuss and explore future updates. The announcement highlights Google's anticipation for innovative applications that developers will create for this new wearable technology.

The Google APIs Client Library for .NET has reached General Availability, offering developers an open-source tool hosted on NuGet to integrate their .NET Framework applications, including desktop and Windows Phone, with Google's services. This library simplifies the process by handling OAuth 2.0 integration, media streaming uploads and downloads, and batching requests, making it an efficient option for accessing over fifty Google APIs. It facilitates tasks such as incorporating Google Calendar into .NET applications, translating text in Windows Phone apps, or using PowerShell scripts for Google Compute Engine. Dan Ciruli from the Google Cloud Platform Team emphasizes the library's role in streamlining development, and additional resources such as a Getting Started tutorial and a dedicated blog are available for developers interested in utilizing Google's services through .NET.

Google announced a global Cloud Platform Developer Roadshow beginning on March 25, 2014, in conjunction with major product announcements at Google Cloud Platform Live. The roadshow aims to explore new computing approaches that transcend traditional divisions between PaaS and IaaS, focusing on enhancing the developer experience for building, testing, and deploying code. This event provides an opportunity for developers to engage with Google's international Cloud Platform team and will visit 26 cities across Europe, Asia, and North America. The announcement is made by Greg DeMichillie, a veteran in developer platforms, who emphasizes the roadshow as a chance to gain insights into Google's cloud technologies.

In March 2014, the Chrome Web Store announced new tools and services designed to streamline the publishing process and enhance monetization options for developers. These updates include Managed In-App Payments, which simplify payment management for extensions and themes, allowing developers to handle in-app products directly from the developer dashboard. Additionally, a Free Trial feature has been introduced for Chrome Packaged Apps and Extensions, enabling users to test paid items before purchasing. The Chrome Web Store API has also been expanded to support programmatic creation, updating, and publishing of items, facilitating integration with automated build and deployment processes. These enhancements aim to reduce overhead for developers, enabling them to focus more on creating content and services.

Google announced the launch of add-ons for Google Docs and Sheets, developed using Google Apps Script, which enables enhanced functionality for users' documents and spreadsheets. More than 50 add-ons were introduced during the launch, providing new tools and features accessible through the Add-ons menu. The platform is currently in a developer-preview phase, inviting developers to submit their own add-ons for potential publication in the store, which enhances discovery, sharing, and automatic updates. These add-ons, which maintain source code confidentiality and offer enterprise features, replace the old script gallery in Google Sheets and integrate seamlessly with the interface to ensure a professional look. Google provides resources such as a CSS package and a UI style guide to help developers achieve high visual quality, encouraging feedback through Google+ and engaging the community with a live YouTube episode dedicated to these new capabilities.

IISpeed, a web performance optimization tool developed by We-Amp in collaboration with Google and SunStar Media, significantly improved the website visitnapavalley.com by reducing average page load times by 12.36% on mobile devices and boosting conversion rates by 1%. The optimization process, which took only 20 minutes to configure, utilized features such as automatic caching control and lazy loading to enhance performance without the need for complex server-side logic or additional code. This initiative leverages Google's PageSpeed optimization practices and brings them to Microsoft's IIS web server, demonstrating substantial improvements particularly in the mobile and tablet segments. While certain third-party content remains unoptimized, the test underscores IISpeed's capacity to simplify web acceleration and eliminate previous optimization hacks, suggesting areas for future enhancement.

Felipe Hoffa from the Google Cloud Platform team discusses utilizing Google BigQuery for geolocation analysis by transforming IP addresses into geographical locations using a publicly available dataset. The process involves optimizing queries for efficiency, as demonstrated by addressing a Stack Overflow question where user "user2881671" sought help to improve their query for mapping IP addresses to locations. Hoffa presents an enhanced solution using the GeoLite City database from MaxMind, which involves processing to extract class B prefixes and generate necessary rules, thus improving performance by avoiding full cross joins. The approach is exemplified through a query that identifies top cities contributing to Wikipedia, and users are encouraged to adapt the query for their own datasets. The post emphasizes the accessibility of BigQuery for data analysis and invites users to engage with the community and provide feedback, highlighting the integration of BigQuery with various data sources and platforms.