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Java on Google App Engine? Not yet

Rumblings from a programmer event in India lead some to believe Google soon will add Java support to App Engine, but Google says it's not happening yet.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
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Stephen Shankland

Reports out of a Google developer conference in India indicated that Google was primed to add support for Java programs running on its presently Python-only Google App Engine. Java support is a top request for the Web application hosting site, but fans would be better off holding their horses for now.

The reports based the Java-on-GAE conclusion on remarks from a speech by Prasad Ram, director of Google research and development in Bangalore. Google, though, said nothing is happening soon.

"While we don't have any immediate plans or announcements, we are working on other languages for App Engine. Security and performance are our primary concerns with any new language runtime and getting it right takes time," the company said in a statement. Google believes Ram was misquoted when discussing Java in regard to Google Web Toolkit, which converts Java software into JavaScript-powered Web site code.

Some Perl programming fans within Google are working on App Engine support, too, but it's an unofficial project.