[python-advocacy] Wiki Questions

[Jeff Rush]

Greg Lindstrom said:

 > I'm willing to take on the database paper.  At Novasys Health (Little
 > Rock, Arkansas) we use Python to connect to Postgres, SQL Server,
 > Oracle, HP Image, and other databases.  It is ridiculously simple
 > to do.

Thanks, you sound like the right person with that breadth of database engines. 
  I see you've put your name on it.

 > I've created a sub-page for my material.  Is there a template that
 > we can/should use for the pages?  If not, is there a style guide
 > to use, or do I just roll my own?

No, at the moment I don't have a template or style guide for whitepapers.  I'm 
open to suggestions if you have a good one, or if anyone is aware of a good 
example on the web.

I saw your sub-page and have been peeking in.  I presume this is where you'll 
work up an outline before writing the paper itself - so others can provide input?

One thing to cover is query optimization -- I get a lot of old C++ 
programmers, typically using IBM DB2, who insist that SQL queries in compiled 
languages are inherently faster than those in interpreted languages.  Their 
reasoning is that an SQL preprocessor can 'PREP' the query.  But as I 
understand it, if you use the DB-API correctly and use SQL instead of 
parameter substitution, the engine will see the same query with different args 
and reuse any cached query preparation.  Something to mention...

-Jeff