DB access without object-relation mapping?

[kj]

Python noob here.

I want to write a script that creates and populates a simple Postgres
database.

The word on the street is to use something like SQLAlchemy for
database access in Python, but my experience in the past with
packages that perform automated SQL generation has been awful, so
I always return to lighter-weight solutions that allow me to write
my own SQL.  (E.g. when coding in Perl I've used Perl's DBI package
and drivers, rather than the likes of Class::DBI.)  So what's the
standard Python way to send SQL directly to a Postgres database
and get back results?

TIA!

kynn

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and the last period, and everything after it, should be discarded.