Lab Intro: App Engine: Qwik Start - Python

Introduction

This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide to getting started with Google App Engine using Python. App Engine is a platform for developing and hosting web applications in Google-managed data centers. This guide will help you understand how to set up a project, deploy a simple application, and manage your application on App Engine.

Step 1: Set Up Your Google Cloud Account

• Go to the Google Cloud Console and sign in with your Google account.
• If you don't have an account, create one and enable billing on your account as it is required to use App Engine.
• Create a new project by clicking on the project drop-down and selecting "New Project."
• Name your project and note the Project ID, as you'll need it later.

Step 2: Install Google Cloud SDK

• Download and install the Google Cloud SDK from the official page.
• Open your terminal (Command Prompt or Terminal) and run the following command to initialize the SDK:

  gcloud init
  

• Follow the prompts to select your newly created project and set your preferred settings.

Step 3: Enable App Engine

• In the Google Cloud Console, navigate to the App Engine section.
• Click on "Create Application."
• Choose your preferred region for the application and click "Next."
• Select Python as your runtime environment.

Step 4: Create Your Application Structure

• Open your preferred code editor and create a new directory for your application.
• Inside this directory, create the following files:
  • app.yaml: This file is essential for App Engine deployment and contains configuration settings.
  • main.py: This Python file will contain your application code.

Sample app.yaml configuration:

runtime: python39
handlers:
- url: /.*
  script: auto

Sample main.py code:

from flask import Flask

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/')
def hello():
    return 'Hello, World!'

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(host='127.0.0.1', port=8080)

Step 5: Test Your Application Locally

• Install Flask if you haven't already. You can do this using pip:

  pip install Flask
  

• Run your application locally to ensure it's working:

  python main.py
  

• Open a web browser and visit http://127.0.0.1:8080 to see your app in action.

Step 6: Deploy Your Application

• Once you are satisfied with your application, deploy it to App Engine using the following command:

  gcloud app deploy
  

• Follow any prompts to confirm the deployment.

Step 7: Access Your Deployed Application

• After deployment, you can view your application in the browser.
• Use the following format for the URL:

  https://<your-project-id>.appspot.com
  

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to set up a Google Cloud project, install the Google Cloud SDK, create a simple Python application, and deploy it to App Engine. As next steps, you can explore more features of App Engine, such as scaling options and connecting to databases. This foundational knowledge can help you build more complex applications in the future.