Python Database API [ 2024 ]

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Python Database API

Let’s learn about Python Database API in this tutorial. The Python Database API (DB-API) is a standard interface for Python modules that access databases.

Python provides a standard interface for interacting with relational databases. This API defines a set of standard methods and conventions for database connectivity, allowing Python programs to interact consistently with various database management systems.

Python Database API

The Python Database API provides a standard mechanism for programming various back-end database management systems (DBMS), like :

MySQL
SQLite
PostgreSQL, etc.

Python Database API

The Python DB-API defines a set of standard methods and exceptions that can be used with different database systems. The API allows Python programmers to write portable code across databases and platforms. The process you follow in your code is the same regardless of which database the application uses to store and retrieve data.

Python Modules

Some commonly used modules that implement the Python Database API are as follows:

Python Database Module	Backend Database
sqlite3	To access SQLite Database.
MySQLdb	To access MySQL Database.
psycopg2	To access the PostgreSQL Database.
cx_Oracle	To access Oracle Database.

The PEP 249( Python Enhancement Proposal ) standard has been widely adopted by Python database interface modules, allowing developers to write code that can work with various databases without significant modifications. Python database modules like sqlite3, psycopg2, etc., adhere to the PEP 249 specification. It provides an SQL interface designed to encourage and maintain the similarity between Python modules that access databases.

The general steps in working with databases are as follows:

Import the Database Module.
Connect to the Database.
Create a Cursor.
Execute SQL Queries.
Fetch Data or Commit Changes.
Close the DB Connection.

The connect function establishes a connection to a database. The connection object has a cursor method that returns a cursor object. The cursor is used to execute SQL commands and fetch results. The connection object provides the methods commit() and rollback() to control transactions.

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