Ask HN: How to upgrade my personal project database from Notion

4 points by patrickwalton 3y ago ↗ HN

I've been using Notion as the database for some personal projects. The backend of the projects are written in Python. I don't have any formal CS training and have a vague idea that the better database solution has something to do with "data warehouses" and SQL, but I'm not sure where to go from here.

4 comments

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hiatus 3y ago ↗

How are you accessing the data in notion now? Via HTTP? It might make sense to migrate to something that supports that interface in order to ease migration instead of a wholesale rewrite. You could start with sqlite or even postgres and with extensions mimic the interface you're used to while transitioning to a pretty scalable database.

patrickwalton 3y ago ↗

I'm just using notion_client, a Python wrapper for the Notion API which says it's a Python version of the reference JavaScript SDK. https://pypi.org/project/notion-client/

Would sqlite or postgres still be the right place to start if I don't have an http interface to start off of?

yen223 3y ago ↗

What's the problem you're trying to solve?

patrickwalton 3y ago ↗

I'm trying to get some general knowledge of how databases are typically managed to avoid staying in Notion workaround longer than I have to. I'm just unfamiliar with other solutions so I don't have anything to compare against. I guess it would have been better to frame the question as what would be a good alternative to learn as a general starting point.