It is actually very reasonable. If you know exactly how a set of API are implemented, you could easily come up with a slightly different implementation that could really optimize the most frequent call patterns by Snapchat.
I think you misunderstood. The SDK [1] is open source (which has a toy implementation of the backend services: data store, queue, etc.) The actual backend services that Snapchat uses live on Google servers and are not open sourced. And that is the secret sauce I was referring to.
Almost all of the SDK source is also used in production app engine.
Taking datastore for example, the performance characteristics of different queries is negligible - any optimisations are done at the level for which the code is open source.
Except they didn't and WSJ apologised and removed that from the article. Snapchat still runs primarily on app engine and the stuff that isn't is using Google Compute Engine.
I don't want to live in Santa Monica, but where I considering working for snapchat, this is pretty damn relevant information. Something went so wrong that a presumably good engineering leader left a company that appears to be on a crash course to making him very rich. Either he was fired, or found a situation so bad he couldn't stand it.
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bolted out of there
Interesting that Snapchat hires the head of Google App Engine to migrate off of Google App Engine.
Obviously the experience helps but anyone can see how it is implemented.
[1] https://code.google.com/p/googleappengine/
Taking datastore for example, the performance characteristics of different queries is negligible - any optimisations are done at the level for which the code is open source.
http://valleywag.gawker.com/snapchat-is-too-arrogant-to-fix-...
http://www.informationweek.com/software/social/5-ways-snapch...
Jad is an excellent hire.