Why use Schevo?

The main problem that Schevo was designed to address is that Relational databases, which use Structured Query Language (SQL), do not match well with object-oriented programming languages, such as Java, Python and Ruby. This situation has been labeled the "object-relational impedance mismatch" problem, and it is a significant barrier to the rapid development and evolution of database applications.

Because of this mismatch, database applications tend to have three distinct layers of code: SQL within the database, object-oriented code within the application, and an object-relational mapping (ORM) layer to mediate between the SQL and the object language. These extra layers add additional complexity and inflexibility to what are already complex and inflexible databases. Schevo eliminates these extra layers.

Schevo solves the object-relational impedance mismatch problem by combining relational features with the object-oriented programming language Python. A database schema defined in Schevo results in a database that enforces the same integrity constraints supported by the Relational model, with the added benefit of Python objects.

The benefit of this is that application developers can create their entire application using the full power of the Python language without having to introduce another language (SQL) that has its own language constructs, its own datatypes, and a limited set of behavior. Instead, a Schevo database stores Schevo objects which use native Python datatypes and include any behavior defined for those objects. In addition, Schevo objects contain a great deal of metadata that is available for introspection to support the development of rich user interfaces with a minimal amount of code.

In fact, Schevo includes a GUI Navigator that can display a fully interactive interface into any Schevo database. The Navigator is constructed on-the-fly based solely on the metadata available within the Schevo database file. The Navigator allows you to display, create, update, and delete any object within the database, within the rules and constraints defined for that database.