Databases in Python

Databases in Python

Databases in Python can be treated completely as an independent topic to study. Hence we will learn the basic functionalities first. This will be a theory-based article. However, we will get to know the basic implementation of Python database.

In simple words, Database is a place to store user data. Now, storing this data is a big question. It can have multiple formats, can be of any data type and can be of any length. Python database covers all these aspects under different sections. We will cover a few of them.

How to use the Database?

In PyCharm we have direct access to connect with almost 20+ different popular databases. The most popular one is MySQL. You can install it using the following steps:

• Go to your Project Settings (File -> Settings…) or press Ctrl+Alt+S on your keyboard to open it.
• Click on Project Interpreter. It opens usually by default.
• Click on the + icon.
• Type PyMySQL and Install the package.

This will install the MySQL drivers. This will enable you to work with SQL standard commands in the python interface.

After installation, we import the mysqlite3 package using the import keyword. Hence, we will be able to perform database-related functions. You can visit this site to know about more types of databases.

However, we can emulate the real SQL console in Pycharm. Follow these steps to install the MySQL console.

• Go to Settings -> Plugins.
• Search Database Navigator in the Marketplace.
• Install the Plugin and restart your IDE.
• A new option called DB Navigator is created in the toolbar.

Here are a few screenshots to guide you.

Here you can see, I have marked the DB navigator Option. In the first instance, it will ask to initialize the database with the username and password. It then works exactly as MySQL.

Connecting the Databases

After installing the necessary database drivers, we need to link the python platform and the database. We do this by creating a connection object and a cursor object of the database. And thus we execute the query in Python Console.

However, when we simulate the MySQL environment, we create a connection at first instance by configuring the username and password only. Afterward, it works exactly like MySQL Database.

Note: The instructions are commonly called a Query in Database Language.

These were some basic hints to get started with Database in Python. However, to work with it, we need to learn Database Management System (which is commonly called as DBMS). These topics are an entirely different aspect of learning a language.