Using App Engine APIs with Datastore

This API is supported for first-generation runtimes and can be used when upgrading to corresponding second-generation runtimes. If you are updating to the App Engine Java 11/17 runtime, refer to the migration guide to learn about your migration options for legacy bundled services.

Datastore is a NoSQL document database built for automatic scaling, high performance, and ease of application development.

The pages in this section describe how to access Datastore with App Engine APIs. Apps that use these APIs can only run in App Engine and will need to upgrade to the recommended Google Cloud APIs before migrating to newer App Engine runtimes. The recommended APIs for Datastore are in the Google Cloud Client Library and enable your app to run in App Engine as well as other environments that support Java 8.

Using Objectify with Datastore

Instead of using App Engine APIs or Google Cloud APIs, you can use Objectify to access Datastore. Objectify is an open-source API for Cloud Datastore that provides a higher-level of abstraction than App Engine APIs and Google Cloud APIs. While apps that use earlier versions of Objectify can only run in App Engine, apps that use version 6 and later can run in App Engine as well as other environments that support Java 8.

If you plan to use Objectify, it's recommended that you use version 6 or later.

Note: The use of Objectify is shown for reference only. Google Cloud Platform does not provide support for the Objectify library, which is a third-party library.