RE: Liquidity balancer (My little Python project)

Glad you asked! I’ve worked with SQL, so I’ve got some knowledge to share.

On a computer, pretty much everything is some form of a database. It can be as simple as a list object in Python, a static file on a disk (like we do with the token cache), or even a blockchain! Each of these stores data in different ways. SQL databases are more structured and designed for serving large collections of data to clients — for example, websites or accounting software. They’re like a more formal system for managing and retrieving data efficiently.

You mentioned Pandas — but since I don't personally know much of them, I had to ask ChatGPT in my own turn... and yes, Pandas seems to be a great tool for handling data in Python, especially when working with data frames (like big tables of data in memory). But it’s not quite a database in the traditional sense. It's is more of a tool for manipulating and analyzing data once it’s already loaded into your program. If you wanted to persist that data across sessions or handle really large datasets, then you’d want to consider something like SQL.

SQL databases can handle large, complex queries efficiently, and allow you to store, retrieve, update, and delete data as needed. Pandas can help you work with data in your code, but it doesn't have the persistence of a proper database unless you save it to a file.

So you’ve got the right idea! Pandas can be cool for working with data in your code, but if you need something more powerful or persistent, SQL is the next step.

!WINE