When comparing Google App Engine vs SLAppForge Sigma, the Slant community recommends Google App Engine for most people. In the question“What are the best serverless frameworks?” Google App Engine is ranked 2nd while SLAppForge Sigma is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Google App Engine is:
Google App Engine integrates with Google's CDN out of the box and it distributes your application's assets through that, increasing loading speed considerably.
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Pros
Pro Increases application speed considerably
Google App Engine integrates with Google's CDN out of the box and it distributes your application's assets through that, increasing loading speed considerably.
Pro Easy to use
Google App Engine is very easy to use. All you need to do is install the SDK (which in itself is easy as well, and the documentation is very heplful) and run the command needed depending on the type of project to deploy it.
For example, to deploy a golang application, you run golang deploy
inside the project folder and it will be automatically deployed.
Pro Nothing to install
Sigma is completely browser-based, so all you need is a web browser (which you already have).
Pro Free demo AWS accounts for tryouts
No AWS account? No problem. Just click 'Request Demo Account Information' and get hold of demo AWS account credentials to get started.
Pro You can get started with just a browser, AWS account and GitHub account
Sigma needs just an AWS account (for deploying your serverless app) and GitHub account (for saving your code and generated configurations). But even if you don't have either or both of them, you can still get started with a free demo account or one of the ready-made samples.
Pro Ready-made samples - no GitHub account needed
Even if you don't have a GitHub account, or are still too skeptical to authorize Sigma to access your account, you can still deploy one from the range of ready-made samples right away without having to log in with GitHub.
Pro Rich support for NodeJS, including the latest 8.10 on AWS
Sigma already fully supports NodeJS 8.10, introduced for Lambda functions by AWS very recently (https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/node-js-8-10-runtime-now-available-in-aws-lambda/), in addition to the earlier 6.10.
Pro Near-zero configurations
Sigma fully automates the definition of entities, their associations (such as function triggers) and the related permissions (e.g. AWS IAM), so all you need to do is to drag them in and write your code.
Pro Define your infra on-the-go
With Sigma, you can define your entities - buckets, databases, queues, APIs, etc. - as and when you encounter them in your code (reusing the previously defined ones when necessary). This ensures a seamless development experience, without any jump-arounds among multiple dashboards, documentation pages and configuration files.
Pro Serverless by design
Sigma itself is based on serverless principles; everything runs in your web browser, and all services and application logic are deployed into your own serverless provider account (say AWS). There is no backend, and hence no outages.
Pro One-click build and deployment
Builds and deployments are fully automated in Sigma, using serverless technologies; just click a button, and everything is airborne within minutes.
Pro GitHub integration
Sigma seamlessly integrates with your GitHub account, so you can save and reload your projects from GitHub at any time. Sigma can also load public projects from any GitHub URL or profile, so sharing your latest adventure with your colleagues is just a matter of sharing your GitHub URL.
Pro Incremental deployments
With Sigma, you can stick to your familiar dev cycle (develop one feature, deploy it, streamline it, redeploy, move on to the next, and so on). Sigma will keep track of all changes and ensure that nothing gets left out, right up to the final deployment.
Pro Super-fast testing
Sigma recently introduced a testing feature which is way faster than the testing options offered by the native AWS Lambda console.
Pro 'Try Now' with no registration
While the signup is just two hassle-free steps, Sigma also offers a demo mode where you can experience most of its features with zero overhead.
Pro Already integrates with a myriad of AWS services
Sigma already supports a wide range of serverless-friendly AWS services - including S3, DynamoDB, API Gateway, SNS, SQS, and so on - with much more coming up in the near future.
Cons
Con Not a core Google product faces uncertin future
Google is notorious with flipping on technology directions, this product is clearly not the focus of Google.
Con Expenses are very hard to control
The monitoring for expenses is limited at best.
Con Problematic support even in the paid grade
Con No SQL database available
Google App Engine uses Google's NoSQL cloud database. There's no option to use a SQL database with your application.
Con Only supports NodeJS at the moment
Serverless apps in Sigma are currently confined to NodeJS as the programming language (both v6.10 and v8.10), although more languages like Go and Python may be supported in the future.
Con Lack of support for non-listed AWS services
Since Sigma internally handles resource configurations and permissions, it is currently difficult to integrate with services that are not yet listed in the Supported Resources section of the IDE.
Con Lack of customizability for power users
Since Sigma handles all resource creation, build and deployment configurations internally, it does not offer much customizability for power users - although this may change in the future.
Con Just out of beta
Sigma is relatively new (came out of beta only very recently) so it may not be fully production-ready.