I'm in the beginning stages of writing (and learning as I go) a Python database app using SQLite.

I have the db structure planned on paper, and I have the queries I'll need in mind, but before I start coding I want to fully test the db design so I know it's right and ready.

What's the best free software to use to test the db structure quickly?

Test it for what?

If you mean testing the schema and keys/triggers stuff. You can pick any visual tool like dbvis, sqlyog that connect straight away to the db backend and you can run the ddl/queries. As for feeding in sample data you'll need to write those scripts yourself, I'm not aware of any freeware data test tools.

Otherwise I dont understand what you want to test.

Python is. You can simply start up python, import a few modules, and start typing commands straight into the interpreter.

You've got a rough idea of what your app needs to do, all you need to do is actually step through it and see what you get.

You can then copy and paste that session into a file (even interspersed through your code) and use the doctest module to rerun it on demand, and highlight any unexpected results.

This way, if you make a small change to your schema, you have a suite of tests that can tell you what broke and needs to be updated. I find this is a great way to move from paper to actual code.

Incidentally, there is a Perl section here and if you'd like to have a Python section on this forum, you might lobby the admins to add one.

Thanks sco08y.