Python for use corporate ecommerce site?

[Paul Rubin]

> here are some of the things the eccomerce system must do or have:
> 
> have the ability to interact with oracle8i/9i, db2, postgresql.

All of those?  At the same time?

> interaction with ups and fedex

Sure, why not?  But I don't know of any existing package that does it.
You get to write the code.

> online store capabilities similar to amazon.com

See previous.

> complete control of updating store items/advertisements-specials for the
> company running the system.

See previous.

> simple accounting functionality for the company running the system

See previous.

> ssl/various crypto support

You probably want to use apache/mod_ssl and let the web server take
care of the SSL.  

> and the main thing the project manager and also the other developers and
> myself are concerned about is that it must be as fast (in all areas) as if
> the system were done using mod_perl. The other developers and myself
> realize that with speed a major factor is the code itself, lets put
> that aside and just assume for this post that our developers are capable
> of programming in python "the right way" (although any links to the most
> efficient way to apply python are welcome).

Python and perl are roughly comparable in execution speed.  Mason
(which you mentioned) is very slow.  There are some Python template
systems sort of similar to Mason, some of which are faster than
others.  I don't know how they compare to Mason speed-wise, but none
will win any drag races in general.

> my questions are:
> 
> would we use python/mod_python by itself or use them in conjunction with
> c++?

If your application required a C++ extension you could write one.

> is there anything in the python world that is equal to the likes in
> functionality and stability as mason?

There are a bunch with comparable functionality.  The one that comes
to mind is Zope, which does a lot more than Mason, but is more
complicated and maybe even slower.

> what are some useful urls pertaining to a project such as this one.

Somewhere I saw a page comparing Zope, Skunkweb, PyHP, Webware, and a
bunch of similar systems.  Maybe you can find it with Google.

> please give me any other suggestions you may have. ***I would especially
> appreciate unbiased advice from people who use multiple programming
> languages and who follow the motto that the right tool/s should be used
> for the job, not just one tool for everything***

I sure like Python better than any of the other languages you've mentioned
for this type of programming.  However, I'd have to say packages of the
type you want aren't as well evolved yet in Python as in Perl or Java.
You should also consider PHP, by the way.