ANN: KirbyBase 2.0 beta 1

[Jamey Cribbs]

I would like to announce the first beta of version 2 of KirbyBase, a 
simple, pure-Python database management system that stores it's data in 
plain-text files.  Version 2 is a total rewrite of the code, a major 
change in the api, and a major improvement (I hope) in the syntax used 
to express queries, inserts, and updates.

Because of the dramatic changes, I wanted to get this beta out in the 
hopes that I can get some early feedback on the new api and syntax, 
before releasing version 2.

You can download the beta from here:

http://www.netpromi.com/files/KirbyBase_Python_2.0_beta_1.zip


Included in the zip file is a script, kbtest.py that has numerous 
examples of the new syntax.  I'll try to give you a small flavor of it here:

To specify a select query in the old version of KirbyBase you would do 
something like this:

db.select('plane.tbl', ['country', 'speed'], ['USA', '> 300'])

which says, "Select all planes from the US with a speed greater than 300mph.

In the new version of KirbyBase you could state the query using named 
arguments:

plane_tbl.select(country='USA', speed='> 300')

or, using a dictionary:

plane_tbl.select({'country': 'USA', 'speed': '> 300'})

or, you could even use a lambda, like this:

plane_tbl.select(lambda r: r.country == 'USA' and r.speed > 300)

I personally prefer the latter, but I realize that lambda's are quite 
controversial just now, so I offer alternative ways to specify select 
criteria.  One of the cool things about using lambdas is that it gives 
you more power in your selects, like being able to use regular 
expressions and being able to use "or" logic.

Anyway, this is just a small taste of the changes.  The changes actually 
go much deeper and, I think, make the resulting api much more 
"Pythonic".  About the only thing that hasn't changed is the table 
structure in the physical file (well, there is one small change, but it 
is easily made).

It is currently a good bit slower than the current version of KirbyBase; 
I will work on optimizing it after the api is frozen.

For those of you who have used the Ruby version of KirbyBase, this new 
Python version closely resembles that, while trying to be as Python-like 
as possible.

There is no manual yet, but I think you can get a good feel for the 
differences by looking at kbtest.py.

I would be very interested in any feedback you can give me on the new 
version.

Jamey Cribbs

jcribbs at twmi.rr.com