September 2021 Summaries

The Google Smart Home Developer Summit, scheduled for October 21, 2021, will be a free virtual event aimed at equipping developers with the tools and support necessary to enhance smart home experiences across platforms like Google Home app, Nest, Android, and Assistant. With the global proliferation of smart homes, now over 276 million, the summit will feature keynotes and sessions led by Michele Turner, Google's Senior Director of Product for Smart Home Ecosystem, focusing on new technologies like Matter and Thread that are set to revolutionize the industry. This event aims to foster innovation and growth within the developer community by providing insights into the latest tools and features to build advanced smart home devices and applications. Attendees are encouraged to engage with the event using the #GoogleHomeSummit tag on social media.

Developers can look forward to a series of upcoming Google summits, including the Android Dev Summit on October 27-28, the Chrome Dev Summit on November 3, and the Firebase Summit on November 10. The Android Dev Summit will focus on building excellent apps across devices, featuring over 30 sessions and live Q&A opportunities with the Android team. The Chrome Dev Summit will commence with a keynote on product updates, followed by interactive sessions such as workshops, AMAs, and personalized support through one-on-one office hours, despite limited space. The Firebase Summit will be held shortly after, with updates available on the Firebase Twitter channel. These events provide a platform for developers to engage with Google experts and peers worldwide.

The blog post by Wesley Chun discusses the use of Google App Engine's push queues within Flask applications, as demonstrated in the Serverless Migration Station's Module 7 episode. It outlines the transition from App Engine's webapp2 framework to Flask, emphasizing the integration of App Engine Task Queues to manage and delete outdated web page visit records asynchronously. The tutorial enhances the application by implementing a system that tracks the ten most recent visits and removes older entries, detailing the required modifications to the application’s source code. This development sets the groundwork for further migration to Cloud Tasks and Cloud NDB, with additional resources such as codelabs, video guides, and detailed documentation available to assist developers through the process. The post caters primarily to Python users, with plans to extend support to other legacy runtimes in future modules.

Google Cloud provides three serverless platforms—App Engine, Cloud Functions, and Cloud Run—each catering to different use cases for deploying applications without managing servers. App Engine allows for deploying source-based web applications and mobile backends, Cloud Functions is ideal for event-driven microservices or utility functions, and Cloud Run offers container flexibility with serverless convenience. Despite their differences, transitioning between these platforms can be seamless, as demonstrated by a sample application that can be deployed on all three without altering the application code. The example app, a simple translation tool using Google Cloud's Translation API, highlights the configuration variations required for each platform, such as app.yaml for App Engine and Dockerfile for Cloud Run. The discussion also addresses accessing Cloud APIs from these platforms and offers guidance on managing IAM roles for security. The tutorial aims to educate developers on deploying applications across Google Cloud's serverless platforms, emphasizing ease of migration and understanding the nuances of each service.

Google Developer Group (GDG) NYC, led by Anna Nerezova, has been leveraging its expertise in Google Cloud technologies to assist Positive Planet US, a nonprofit focused on alleviating poverty through entrepreneurship. Over the past year, GDG NYC members have applied their skills in building the nonprofit's digital infrastructure, including a website, secure payment systems, and email campaigns, all while adhering to Google's Core Web Vitals and page experience guidelines. This collaboration not only enhances the nonprofit's operational capabilities but also offers GDG members the chance to apply their cloud skills for social good. Positive Planet US, which originated in France and has helped millions escape poverty globally, launched its US branch in New York City to drive economic growth in underserved communities post-pandemic. As part of their efforts, Positive Planet US also runs the Accelerator Hub for Minority Women Entrepreneurs, providing coaching and resources to help women from disadvantaged backgrounds start and grow their businesses. With ongoing initiatives like the Accelerator Hub and upcoming GDG events, Anna continues to seek opportunities for GDG members to contribute meaningfully to community development.

Yara Elkady's journey from a tech enthusiast to a certified machine learning instructor within a year highlights the significant role played by the Google Developer Student Clubs (GDSC) in her development. Inspired by a childhood moment in a computer class, Yara pursued her interest in technology and attended Misr University for Science and Technology in Egypt to study computer science. Her fascination with artificial intelligence led her to join the GDSC chapter at her university, where she expanded her skills through workshops and community engagement. As a GDSC Lead, Yara received training through the MENA DSC Leads Academy, mastering advanced machine learning concepts and collaborating on projects. Her dedication and community support enabled her to pass the TensorFlow Certification exam, making her one of the first women in Egypt to be featured in the TensorFlow Certificate Network. Yara's achievements underscore the power of community and shared learning in reaching personal and professional milestones, inspiring others to engage with similar tech communities.

Google Cloud has introduced a Cloud Shell integration within its documentation pages, allowing users to execute code and commands directly in a preprovisioned virtual machine instance, thereby streamlining the learning process for Google Cloud services. This integration reduces the need for context switching between documentation and terminal windows, offering an accessible entry point for newcomers to Google Cloud. After activating billing verification, users can test services like Pub/Sub and Cloud Vision at no cost if they fall under the free tier. Cloud Shell, which includes a terminal and a browser-based code editor, comes preinstalled with necessary tools and languages, enabling users to manage Google Cloud resources and run code samples effectively. The Cloud Shell Editor, powered by the Eclipse Theia IDE platform, supports multiple programming languages and offers features like integrated source control and local emulators, enhancing the learning experience by allowing users to work through tutorials seamlessly in one browser tab.

The "Road to GDE" program is a mentoring initiative aimed at supporting women in their journey to become Google Developers Experts, a prestigious global community of developers and thought leaders who share technical knowledge. To become an Expert, candidates must demonstrate strong technical skills, a history of knowledge sharing, and the courage to seek support from existing Experts or Google employees. The program, which ran for three months, paired 17 mentees with mentors from the Experts community, focusing on public speaking, building professional portfolios, and boosting confidence. Participants like Glafira Zhur and Julia Miocene shared experiences of increased opportunities, such as speaking at events and creating speaker portfolios, while Bhavna Thacker was motivated to continue her community contributions and promote her work. All 17 mentees successfully completed the program, expressing gratitude for the mentorship and looking forward to applying to the Google Developers Experts program.

A project by Neurons Lab explores gesture-based drone control using MediaPipe Hands, aiming to replace traditional bulky controllers with a more intuitive method. This approach leverages gesture recognition, a natural non-verbal communication method, to control drones without physical interaction, using existing cameras on drones. The project utilizes a Ryze Tello quadcopter and a modular program structure to facilitate gesture recognition and drone control, employing a custom neural network for gesture classification. The system’s flexibility allows for quick addition and modification of gestures, making it suitable for various applications, from extreme sports to industrial environments. MediaPipe Hands offers a fast and adaptable solution, enabling real-time gesture recognition and easy model retraining. Future plans include integrating personalisation features and exploring further capabilities of MediaPipe, such as face recognition for operator authorisation, while encouraging responsible AI practices. The project aims to inspire innovation in machine learning and computer vision within UAVs, inviting contributions and ideas from the community.

In September 2021, Patricia Correa, Director of Global Developer Marketing at Google, highlighted the success of the Indie Games Accelerator and Indie Games Festival, initiatives aimed at supporting small game studios and mobile game startups. These programs, part of Google's commitment to fostering developer growth within its ecosystem, attracted thousands of applications globally, showcasing the innovation and creativity in the indie game community. The festival, held virtually for the first time, allowed global participation and concluded with the announcement of winners from Europe, Korea, and Japan, while the accelerator selected its 2021 class, offering mentorship and education to chosen studios across the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The event was hosted by notable personalities, including YouTube creator Papfi and Japanese comedians Kajisak and Kikuchiusotsukanai, who contributed their expertise and passion for gaming.

Google Cloud's video series explores an easier, optional migration path for developers looking to move their App Engine applications to Cloud Run, emphasizing the use of Cloud Buildpacks instead of Docker. This approach is particularly beneficial for those unfamiliar with Docker or container technology, allowing them to create secure, production-ready container images directly from source code without a Dockerfile. Although App Engine continues to receive long-term support for those preferring source-based deployments, developers seeking to modernize their serverless applications can leverage Cloud Buildpacks to streamline the containerization process. The video specifically addresses Python developers transitioning from App Engine's ndb to Cloud NDB and porting their applications to Python 3, highlighting the similarity between configuration files like app.yaml and Dockerfile. By using Cloud Buildpacks, developers can avoid the complexities of maintaining Dockerfiles while still achieving a seamless build and deploy experience through commands like 'gcloud run deploy'. The series encourages developers to experiment with a sample app to gain confidence in the migration process, offering additional resources such as codelabs and source code for a guided experience.