Trac Database Connection Wrapping

Web applications written in Python tend to use some kind of object-relational mapping technology such as SQLObject or SQLAlchemy. Trac, however, has not yet introduced such dependencies nor do they define an object-relational mapper of their own. Trac uses the more traditional database connection and database cursor abstractions. This isn't to say that there aren't any higher-level abstractions defined. There are and they are really designed quite well and are therefore easy to comprehend.

Of course, object-relational mapping technology isn't the be-all and end-all of all web applications. In fact, if you can do without the overhead involved you may be better off as long as you can clearly define a separation of concerns.

For instance, Trac defines a database drivers for MySQL as well as others. This is typically the selling point for object-relational technology. Trac's approach is to define two base classes for the core database abstractions; IterableCursor and ConnectionWrapper. These classes provide the generic functionality shared by all database drivers. A brief idea of the design is illustrated below.