Managing a database and synchronizing service data representation with the database can be tricky. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to use SQLAlchemy, a powerful SQL toolkit, to simplify this task. We’ll cover how to leverage SQLAlchemy’s Object Relational Mapper (ORM) system, and how to use ORM’s asyncio extension in your async services.
Participants will walk out of this tutorial having learned how to:
- Use SQLAlchemy for database operations in Python, enhancing the readability and maintainability of the code
- Build Python classes (ORMs) that represent the database tables
- Experiment with different relationship-loading techniques to improve querying performance
- Utilize SQLAlchemy’s asyncio extension to interact with databases asynchronously

Managing a database and synchronizing service data representation with the database can be tricky. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to use SQLAlchemy, a powerful SQL toolkit, to simplify this task. We’ll cover how to leverage SQLAlchemy’s Object Relational Mapper (ORM) system, and how to use ORM’s asyncio extension in your async services.
Participants will walk out of this tutorial having learned how to:
- Use SQLAlchemy for database operations in Python, enhancing the readability and maintainability of the code
- Build Python classes (ORMs) that represent the database tables
- Experiment with different relationship-loading techniques to improve querying performance
- Utilize SQLAlchemy’s asyncio extension to interact with databases asynchronously

Internal technical communities have become a cornerstone of how Bloomberg fosters engineering excellence, cross-team collaboration, and sustained innovation. These grassroots groups shape best practices, address shared challenges, and enable engineers to develop beyond their daily roles, directly influencing the company’s technological growth and culture.

In this talk, we’ll explore one of our firm's most established internal communities: Bloomberg's Python Guild. Active for more than a decade, the Guild has grown into a thriving, organisation-wide network supporting thousands of Python developers. It not only advances internal excellence but also actively contributes to the broader Python ecosystem through open source projects, sponsorship of major conferences, and collaboration with nonprofit organisations.

We'll share practical insights into how such internal communities are structured, discuss their measurable impact, and provide guidance on building and sustaining communities that drive meaningful innovation.

Whether you're thinking about starting an internal community in your company or looking for fresh ideas to nurture and expand an existing one, this talk will provide plenty of inspiration and guidance.