It might seem intimidating, but hooking Zope up to a MySQL database is easier than you think. And once you've got the two talking nice to each other, it becomes even simpler to create dynamic, Zope-based Web applications. Take a look.
First up, that all-important question: why? Why on earth would you want to connect your Zope system to an external database, especially since Zope already comes with its own, very cool ZODB?
There are a couple of reasons why you might want to do this:
First, if your data is already in an existing RDBMS, you're usually going to find it tedious and time-consuming to migrate it all to to Zope's own database. It's far easier (not to mention less disruptive to your users) to leave your data where it is, and simply get Zope to talk to your existing RDBMS so that you can access the data within it in a simple, transparent manner.
Second, Zope's own database is not really meant to perform the same tasks as a full-fledged RDBMS. The ZODB is a very powerful object database which keeps track of all the different objects you use in Zope, and it comes with some very neat transaction and versioning features. However, it's optimized to read data, not write it, and so INSERT and UPDATE queries tend to be sub-optimal on this database.
It should be noted at this stage that, in addition to the ZODB, Zope does come with a small, SQL-compliant RDBMS named Gadfly, which can be used if your requirements aren't too complex. If, however, you're dealing with large record sets or complex queries, you will probably find Gadfly too slow and inefficient for your needs, and you will need to explore the possibility of connecting Zope to a more professional and full-featured RDBMS.
