simple client data base

[Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn]

Mark R Rivet wrote:

> Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:
>> Mark R Rivet wrote:
>>> Hello all, I am learning to program in python. I have a need to make a
>>> program that can store, retrieve, add, and delete client data such as
>>> name, address, social, telephone number and similar information. This
>>> would be a small client database for my wife who has a home accounting
>>> business.
>>> 
>>> I have been reading about lists, tuples, and dictionary data
>>> structures in python and I am confused as to which would be more
>>> appropriate for a simple database.
>> 
>> […]
>> However, if you want your program to manipulate the data *persistently*.
>> as it will probably be needed for business, you will need to also store
>> it somewhere else than in the volatile memory in which these data
>> structures are usually stored.  The most simple way would be to store and
>> parse the string representation of the objects.
>>
>> Production-quality implementations of those and other concepts already
>> exist, of course, but using something finished and polished does not
>> provide as much learning experience.
> 
> Now this is the kind of answer I was hoping for. This gives me food
> for thought. Now I have some Ideas of how to appproach this thing. I
> know that there are solutions to this problem already but I need to do
> my own before I can really use anything better. Thanks for the help. I
> fully intend to go with a real realational database, but not now. My
> version 1 will be a console interface and dictionaries, lists and
> pickling. Version 2 will be with a GUI written in tkinter, and better
> and better. I just want to learn how to lay the bricks before I start
> using prefab walls.

You are welcome.  However, I have to concur with the others that in terms of 
efficiency and reliability, which leads to household peace, you are better 
off starting with a prepackaged solution instead.

You can keep developing your Python-powered database as a pet project for 
the time being.  Your wife will be even more impressed if at one day you can 
tell her that you wrote completely customizable software that works the same 
or even better than the one she has been getting used to :)  Even if not, 
you will have learned much about Python and related concepts along the way.  
Keep in mind, then, that you probably also need a graphical user interface.

Please trim your quotes to the relevant minimum next time.

-- 
PointedEars

Twitter: @PointedEars2
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