Google App Engine

Google App Engine (GAE) is Google's original Platform as a Service, launched in 2008 and designed to run web applications without requiring developers to manage servers or infrastructure. GAE introduced the automatic scaling model in which the platform provisions instances in response to request volume and decommissions them when idle, charging only for the resources consumed. Its original runtime was restrictive — no native code, no persistent local filesystem, limited execution time — which made it elegant for simple web apps but unsuitable for complex workloads. The service was eventually eclipsed by Google Cloud Run and container-based platforms that offered PaaS convenience with IaaS flexibility. GAE's legacy is the proof that the "serverless before serverless" idea was technically viable but commercially premature; the market wanted the abstraction without the constraints.