Che M wrote:
I'm curious whether I should consider learning either SQLObject
or SQLAlchemy, and whether my needs would be worth it. I am
learning to use SQlite databases for fairly simple storage and later
search, and have only recently learned about object relational
mapping (ORM). "Fairly simple" = 4-6 tables with no more than
2-10 fields each, 100-5,000 records, with queries doing basic LIKE
and other matches, nothing fancy.
I'd like to hear opinions on when it is worth it to use these ORM tools
for a Python database application, that is, in terms of the complexity
of the database or queries or the application, or when basic Python
and SQL is sufficient. It's a personal preference, I'm sure, but I just
wanted to get some opinions. Also, if there is an opinion about either
of these two ORMs in terms of learning curve, quality, etc.
Good question, I think.
My answer would be: pick an ORM to learn anyway. You can't go
far wrong knowing what's there and the learning curves are not steep.
You've mentioned sqlalchemy and SQLObject. There are also Storm,
MotherDb and Elixir (which is an easier layer over sqlalchemy).
SQLObject is more mature but sqlalchemy is quite popular and has
a lot of community support. The others are relatively new and I don't
know too much about them.
But the other side of the coin is: when do you need an ORM at all?
I'm a professional SQL programmer so I tend to find extra tools
getting in the way. If I'm dealing with relational data, I think in SQL
and, no matter how good the ORM's syntax, I find it a distraction.
But where I *do* find an ORM useful is in dealing with very simple
interactions with one or two joins which are handled automatically
and which save me writing fairly tedious boilerplate. In short, I use
ORMs for small projects, but not for big ones. So far.
TJG
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