Extending Google Apps with Java for App Engine

With the recent announcement of Java for App Engine, Google has provided a comprehensive solution for developing rich internet applications which extend the business value of Google Apps.

This demo accompanies a white paper written by Steve Ziegler, Director of Application Development at Cloud Sherpas, entitled "Extending Google Apps with Java for App Engine." Click here to download the white paper today.

What does the demo application do?

The demo utilizes the new Java language support for App Engine, Google authentication services and GData API calls to answer an important question... how much time do you spend in meetings? The application will query your Google Calendar for the start and end times of events from the last week and display the results using Flex charts.

First, web applications that need to access to services protected by a user's Google or Google Apps account can do so using the Google Authentication service. This service lets web applications get access without ever handling their users' account login information. For this demo, we'll use AuthSub authentication, a Google authentication service that offers several options with regards to security requirements.

After you click the "Start the Demo" button below, you will need to grant our demo application permission to access your Google Account. Below are two screens you'll see during this process:

First, choose a Google Account that the demo application can access:
Then, grant the application permission to query your Google Calendar: Note, this demonstration will only query for the start and end times of events on a user's calendar for the past week. No other personal data is reviewed or stored.
Once permission is granted, the application will query the last week of your Google Calendar, sending the results, via XML, to Flex. Our application uses three chart types, the standard PieChart and ColumnChart components along with Thomas Gonzalez's very nice open source Gauge component.

And Viola! An analysis of your calendar for the past week is displayed. Hopefully no one will be too far in the red like this guy.

Enough talk, I want to see this in action!

Ok, ok. Click the button below to begin.

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This Google App Engine demo application was built by Cloud Sherpas.
Last updated Tuesday, April 7, 2009.