[Persistence-sig] getting started

[John Miller]

Like others, I expect mainly to lurk. I would appreciate it if someone 
were willing to explain how the goals of this sig go beyond pickling and 
shelving. I know that this sounds like a newbie question, (which, in 
most respects, I am) but it would help to make explicit the context for 
the ensuing discussion. Since Python already incorporates persistence 
via pickling and shelving, what is currently lacking? (I know that the 
answer is probably obvious to most people on this list.) In other words, 
quickly describe the difference between pickling and shelving, describe 
how ZODB incorporates one or the other or both, and why or why not 
extending pickling and/or shelving themselves is a wise move to achieve 
the goals of this sig. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to lay the 
groundwork in this or a similar fashion for us developers-in-training!

John Miller
School of Education
University of Michigan

>>>> But a standardized persistency layer in python seems - at
>>>> least to me - to be an important feature for python to stay
>>>> competitive.
>>> What is the competition doing in this area?
>> Hm, nothing I'm aware of, but that's the point: staying ahead
>> in some important areas just helps, doesn't it?
>
> I dunno.  I personally believe there's a reason why few languages
> standardize persistence, and why languages that do include persistence
> have remained at the fringe at best.
>
> --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)