Python's de facto SQL toolkit and ORM — supports both a low-level expression language (Core) and a high-level object-relational mapper (ORM), with deep support for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and most major databases.
SQLAlchemy spans two layers: Core (lets you build SQL queries via Pythonic expressions for direct execution) and ORM (maps tables to Python classes with session-based transactions). Most apps use the ORM for everyday work and drop to Core for performance-critical queries. SQLAlchemy 2.0 introduced typed sessions, async support, and modern syntax — bringing it on par with Django ORM ergonomically while staying database-agnostic.
Building a FastAPI service that uses SQLAlchemy 2.0's async session for nonblocking DB queries while serving 10K+ concurrent connections.
SQLAlchemy is the Python ecosystem's most battle-tested ORM — chosen for FastAPI, Flask, and any non-Django Python service that needs database access.
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