I'm also checking out adoDB as a database abstraction layer in python. There is a PHP version of adoDB but I've never used it, mostly stuck with metabase / MDB2.
I've added two simple scripts to the code base to use as evaluation, so I should have some more experience to report soon.
I'm looking at SQL Alchemy as the first data source connector for schematronic. At first I thought it tried to do away with SQL statements, but it appears like it can work with them OK.
I'll investigate it some more and post my notes when they are ready.
Right now I'm definitely leaning towards simply porting Nexista to python in the form of Schematronic, instead of trying to blend nexista with cocoon, as I had originally planned.
I have a hard time understanding Cocoon because it is so big, complicated, and written in java, a language which I have very little experience with.
Furthermore, the author of pycoon, Andrey, seems to have a good understanding of python and cocoon, whereas I am learning python, but have a good understanding of nexista.
Once I'm done with Schematronic, I'll be more familiar with python, and will then hopefully understand pycoon better. I should also have another look at popoon, as it is a PHP port of cocoon. I've looked at it before and unfortunately I got confused pretty quickly. Maybe this time around I'll be able to understand it better as I've learned a little bit about cocoon while exploring pycoon.
I installed mod_wsgi and really like it a lot. Its a lot like mod_fcgid in some ways, and is really helping me experiment with serving python-powered content. Cool!
When working on Nexista, I started to architect applications like PBooks so that each main part would have a separate entry point. For example, to login, you would access the auth.php script, and the various functions and resources could be accessed with keys, like auth.php?nid=login. Once you logged in to the application, you would interface with the pbooks.php entry gateway, and access its functions and resources in the same manner.
This jives very well with mod_wsgi and the plans I have for Schematronic. I'm still on the fence about how much I want Schematronic to be like Nexista or Cocoon / Pycoon, as I'm more familiar with Nexista, but Cocoon is bigger and has more support.