another cgi / database concern (SQL vs. 'shelve')

[Justin Shaw]

> I have no experience with SQL, but I do have experience using shelve
> for persistent storage of data.
In this case shelve will be the quickest, least risk approach.

> I'd like to get some exposure to
> SQL, but ...
If you want to use this project to learn SQL, and can afford the time, do
it.  Allow extra time for setting up python with your database.  It is not
tough if you know what you are doing but "simple" problems can set you back
hours.  This is on top of comming up to speed on all of the database issues.
O'reily's _Access_Databse_2nd_Edition is a good beginning database book but
doesn't cover python.  I've heard good things about _SQL_in_a_Nutshell too
also by O'realy, but haven't read it myself.

> any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Solve your problem with shelve quickly.  In the mean time install MySQL and
work on the database end by itself until you are comfortable with SQL.  Then
adding the python layer will be a snap for your next suitable project.

Good Luck
Justin Shaw