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- A primer on understanding Google Earth Engine APIsPublication . Reis, Rui S.; Datia, Nuno; Pós-de-Mina Pato, MatildeThis article introduces the rationale behind the usage of the Google Earth Engine, and the advantages it offers, as an alternative to handle large volumes of georeferenced data using the existing tools we know as Geographic Information Systems on premises. Google Earth Engine is an efficient development framework that presents itself in two basic flavors: one online integrated development environment which uses the browser JavaScript’s engine; and two APIs that can be deployed on either a Python or a NodeJS environment. After presenting a limited number of use cases, representative of the Google Earth Engine design patterns, and building a prototype class using both variants, we conclude that both platforms are merely proxy APIs to the Google Earth Engine and do not have any measurable performance difference. However, since they run on fundamentally diverse contexts — a JavaScript’s engine on an internet browser, that integrates seamlessly with Google Maps, and a Python environment — it is argued that their utility depends on the user requirements instead of being true alternatives.