September 2014 Summaries

In a blog post originally published on the Google Research blog, the historical problem of the "Stigler Diet" is used to illustrate the evolution and application of linear optimization techniques, highlighting Google's advancements in this field. The "Stigler Diet" originates from a 1945 essay by George Stigler, which aimed to determine the most cost-effective way to feed a soldier, leading to the development of the linear optimization field. Today, Google engineers apply similar principles in areas such as YouTube video stabilization and the Google Docs Sudoku add-on. To further democratize access to these optimization tools, Google has introduced a Linear Optimization add-on for Google Sheets, allowing users to solve linear optimization problems directly within spreadsheets. Additionally, Google has open-sourced its linear solver, Glop, as part of the or-tools suite, providing developers with an API to integrate this technology into their applications. This culminates in a playful challenge where Google Chef Anthony Marco created a dish called Foie Linéaire à la Stigler, using only the five ingredients from Stigler's original diet plan, demonstrating both the technical and creative aspects of optimization.

Google's Developer Platform team launched a survey in September 2014 to gather feedback from developers using Google's APIs and platforms, aiming to improve their developer products and services. The survey, designed to take 10 to 15 minutes, seeks to understand developers' experiences and identify areas for enhancement. To incentivize participation and support global education, Google pledged to donate $10 per completed survey to one of six educational organizations, including Khan Academy and Raspberry Pi, with a donation cap of $20,000. The survey remained open until October 15, 2014, and was part of Google's commitment to putting user feedback at the forefront of its development efforts.

In September 2014, Google introduced the Google Apps Activity API, designed to give developers programmatic access to the activity stream of Google Drive, which was first launched in January that year. This API allows applications and extensions to access activity history for individual files and folders within Google Drive through a RESTful interface. By providing programmatic access, the API enables developers to create tools that help users monitor changes to files and folders, such as teachers tracking student edits or auditing shared financial documents during tax season. The launch invites developers to explore the possibilities of building new functionalities using this API, with detailed documentation available for guidance.

Google has announced updates to its Admin SDK for Google for Work customers, enabling the addition of custom user attributes in the Directory API and expanding access to all domain users. The new feature allows businesses to define attributes such as project involvement, job level, or hiring date, which behave like regular fields in user profiles and support different data types. These attributes can be set as public or private, depending on the organization's needs. Additionally, the update allows all users, not just admins, to call the Directory API to read profiles of other users within the domain, respecting access control and profile sharing settings. This change aims to facilitate the creation of business applications like corporate directories and workflow management tools that can be used organization-wide.

In September 2014, Google emphasized the importance of App Indexing, a feature that allows apps to be indexed like websites, enhancing their discoverability and user engagement. Initially launched with a select group of developers in October 2013, App Indexing was made available to all Android developers by June 2014, enabling them to integrate app deep links into search results. This capability aims to bridge the gap between web and app content, addressing user frustration with siloed app content and enhancing the ability to find and interact with information seamlessly. By implementing deep linking and verifying their websites with Google, developers can drive app re-engagement and leverage query autocompletions in the Google app through the App Indexing API. The initiative reflects Google's ongoing effort to evolve search by making app content more accessible, reminiscent of its early mission to index the web in 1998, and was discussed in depth during a session at Google I/O 2014, highlighting its potential for transforming how users discover and interact with app content.

Google Apps Marketplace expanded its functionality in 2014 to allow individual Google Apps users, rather than just administrators, to install third-party applications that integrate with Google Apps for Work. This change meant that users could easily access and enhance their Google Apps experience by navigating the app launcher and accessing the Marketplace. The update excluded K-12 EDU domains, which remained restricted by default. Developers with apps in the Marketplace using oAuth 2.0 could enable this feature by adjusting settings in the Google Developer Console, while those not yet using oAuth 2.0 were provided with migration instructions.

The announcement of gcloud-node marks the introduction of a new category of client libraries specifically designed for Google Cloud Platform, aiming to provide Node.js developers with an idiomatic and intuitive tool for integrating services like Cloud Datastore and Cloud Storage into their applications. This library simplifies the process of writing, reading, and integrating Node.js code by allowing developers to easily retrieve entities from Datastore using straightforward code. The gcloud-node library is open-source and hosted on GitHub, inviting contributions and discussions through platforms like StackOverflow. Installation is facilitated via npm, and further information and documentation are available online, encouraging developers to explore and utilize gcloud-node for their cloud-based projects.

Apple's recent update to its app submission policy now prohibits the inclusion of binaries in resource bundles, prompting iOS developers utilizing the GooglePlus SDK to take immediate action. Developers must either upgrade to the updated 1.7.1 version of the Google+ iOS SDK, which complies with the new policy by excluding the problematic files, or manually remove specific files from the GooglePlus bundle to avoid app rejection. The files in question were only utilized for versioning purposes, so removing them will not affect the functionality of the apps. Mohamed Zoweil, a software engineer at Google, emphasizes the urgency of this update to ensure continued app approval by Apple.

In response to the growing demand for using the same language on both client and server sides, Google announced the availability of Docker images for Dart, facilitating the development and deployment of end-to-end Dart applications. These new images, including dart, dart-runtime, and dart-hello, complement the existing Docker support in Google App Engine and are available on hub.docker.com. The google/dart image integrates the Dart SDK into a Debian Wheezy base, making it easy to run Dart in a container, while google/dart-runtime simplifies running Dart server applications. For practical implementation, developers can set up their server applications with a specific layout, utilize a straightforward Dockerfile, and run their apps in containers with minimal commands. Additionally, the google/dart-hello image serves as a sample Dart server application. These Docker images ensure that developers can deploy the same code they test locally, with options to use specific Dart version tags to maintain consistency across environments.

Google announced the Google Cloud Platform for Startups program, offering $100,000 in Cloud Platform credits, 24/7 support, and technical solutions access to eligible early-stage startups, as revealed by Urs Hölzle at the Google for Entrepreneurs Global Partner Summit. This initiative aims to help startups worldwide, particularly those with less than $5 million in funding and under $500,000 in annual revenue, to leverage Google's cloud infrastructure to launch and scale their ideas. By partnering with over 50 global incubators, accelerators, and investors, Google intends to allow developers to concentrate on coding without the burden of managing infrastructure. The program highlights the success of startups like Snapchat, Khan Academy, and Headspace, who have grown significantly using the Google Cloud Platform, and Google is committed to supporting the next generation of innovative startups.

Web optimization for bandwidth is crucial for reducing costs and improving user experiences, yet many opportunities for savings remain unaddressed due to the complexities involved in implementing solutions like gzip compression, minifying resources, and optimizing images. Although web designers and developers face challenges such as debugging difficulties with minified code, tools like Google's optimizing proxy for Chrome users have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing bandwidth by 50%, though they are limited to specific users and do not support HTTPS traffic. To extend these benefits universally, the PageSpeed team offers a solution for webmasters using Apache or Nginx servers through the "Optimize for Bandwidth" feature, which automates bandwidth-saving processes. This open-source technology not only simplifies optimization for various browsers and secure sites but also allows for easy integration of advanced enhancements like cache extension and image lazy loading, with ongoing efforts to support additional web servers.

Runtastic, a popular fitness app, has been effectively adapted for Android Wear, allowing users to track activities like walking, running, and biking directly from their smartwatch. The integration enables users to view crucial data such as time, distance, and calories burned at a glance, while offering the convenience of starting, stopping, and pausing activities with touch or voice commands, such as "Ok Google, start running." Utilizing Android Wear's platform features, Runtastic incorporates voice actions, custom cards, and a seamless synchronization of data between the watch and phone via the Wearable Data Layer API to enhance user experience. The app also delivers a detailed summary card on the watch after an activity, showcasing a map of the user's run using the Google Maps API, demonstrating how Runtastic leverages wearable technology to provide a smooth and intuitive fitness tracking experience.