SQL, lite lite lite

[pruebauno at latinmail.com]

On Dec 29, 1:06 pm, Aaron Brady <castiro... at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> About a year ago, I posted an idea I was having about thread
> synchronization to the newsgroup.  However, I did not explain it well,
> and I really erred on the side of brevity.  (After some finagling, Mr.
> Bieber and I decided it wasn't exactly anything groundbreaking.)  But
> I think the brevity cost me some readers, who might have had more
> interest.  The affair was on the whole discouraging.  So, I'm going to
> try another idea, and assume that readers have some time, and will
> spend it on it.
>
> I don't think relational data can be read and written very easily in
> Python.  There are some options, such as 'sqllite3', but they are not
> easy.  'sqllite3' statements are valid SQL expressions, which afford
> the entire power of SQL, but contrary to its name, it is not that
> 'lite'.  To me, 'lite' is something you could learn (even make!) in an
> afternoon, not a semester; something the size of an ActiveState
> recipe, or a little bigger, maybe a file or two.  If you think SQL is
> a breeze, you probably won't find my idea exciting.  I assume that the
> basics of SQL are creating tables, selecting records, and updating
> records.
>
> My idea is to create a 'Relation' class.  The details are basically
> open, such as whether to back it with 'sqllite3', 'shelve', 'mmap', or
> just mapping and sequence objects; what the simplest syntax is that
> can capture and permit all the basics, and how much and what else can
> fit in at that level; how and whether it can include arbitrary Python
> objects, and what constraints there are on them if not; how and
> whether to permit transactions; and what the simplest and coolest
> thing you can do with a little Python syntax is.
>
> This is basically an invitation for everyone to brainstorm.  (No
> hijackings, good humor & digression ok.)  Lastly, ...
>
> **warning, spoiler!  here's what I thought of already.**
>
> **repeat!  spoiler!  here's what I thought of already.**
>
> #Just the select and update syntax:
>
> >>> a= people._select( "firstname== 'Joe'" )
>
> #select 'key' from 'people' where 'firstname'== 'joe'>>> a
>
> [Entry2864, Entry3076, Entry3172]>>> entry1= a[ 0 ]
> >>> entry1.phone
>
> #select 'phone' from 'people' where 'key'==self.key
> "555-2413">>> entry1.phone= "555-1234"
>
> #update 'people' set 'phone'= '555-1234' where 'key'==self.key>>> entry1.phone
>
> "555-1234"
>
> #Create table syntax (a-whole-nother beast in itself):
>
> >>> classes= db.Relation( 'class_', 'person', Unique( 'class_', 'person' ) )
>
> #create table 'classes' ( 'key', 'class_', 'person' ) unique
> ( 'class_', 'person' )
>
> >>> classes._unique( 'class_', 'person' )
> >>> classes.class_.noneok= False #'class_' cannot be null
> >>> classes.person.noneok= False
> >>> classes._insert( 'Physics', 'Dan' )
> >>> classes._insert( 'Chem', 'Tim' )
>
> Hoping-"good critic"-is-self-consistent-ly, hoping-to-hear-it's-too-
> complicated-already-ly,
> A. Brady

You really do like to reinvent the wheels do you? :-) Nothing wrong
with that. Just be aware that most people that really need what you
are proposing are probably already using mature feature rich libraries
for that.

http://wiki.python.org/moin/HigherLevelDatabaseProgramming