Kosovo database; Python speed

[Christian Tismer]

Richard van de Stadt wrote:
> 
> Suppose we were going to make a database to help Kosovars locate
> their family members. This would probably result in hundreds of
> thousands of records (say 1 record (file) per person).
> 
> Would Python be fast enough to manage this data, make queries on
> the data, or should compiled programs be used?

Dependant of the operating system, I'd suggest to use a
database extension.
Controlling this database from Python will give you
enough speed. If I had to do this, my preferences are

mySQL for Linux, with its interface,
MS-Access for Windows, with a COM interface.

The latter is not since I like it so much, but we have
used it before, and the interfaces are there.

Since the Kosovars need help quickly, I'd use this combination
instead of writing something special. Python alone will not
be too easy, since your data will probably not fit into memory.
You will also have lots of edits, so I think using a true
database is the better choice here. (Not saying that Access is
a true database, but it works fine with several 100000 records).

But two single columns with a name and a record ID will fit,
so your code might extract this info as a whole, map it to a dict
and search it in some sophisticated manner. This can be even faster
than the database.
Do you have more info on the amount of data, fields per record,
and what search capabilities are needed? Is it designed as a web
based application? Are there on-line updates and such?

ciao - chris

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