Guillaume Redoulès

Creating a sqlite database

  2. Python
  3. Data Wrangling

When you want to start with using databases SQlite is a great tool. It provides an easy onramp to learn and prototype you database with a SQL compatible database.

First, let's import the libraries we need

import sqlite3
from sqlite3 import Error

SQlite doesn't need a database server, however, you have to start by creating an empty database file

import os 
def check_for_db_file ():
    if os.path.exists("mydatabase.db"):
        print ("the database is ready")
    else:
        print("no database found")

check_for_db_file ()

no database found

Let's then create a function that will connect to a database, print the verison of sqlite and then close the connexion to the database. 

def create_database(db_file):
    """ create a database connection to a SQLite database """
    try :
        with sqlite3.connect(db_file) as conn:
            print("database created with sqlite3 version {0}".format(sqlite3.version))
    except Error as e:
        print(e)

create_database(".\mydatabase.db")

database created with sqlite3 version 2.6.0

check_for_db_file ()

the database is ready

You're all set. From now on, you can open the database and write sql querries into it.