If you are writing an ORM tool, please keep this one point in mind: I already know SQL. Your new query syntax isn't better; it's just different. Which means one more thing for me to learn. Which means I probably won't bother, and will use instead an ORM tool that respects my time. Consider: if your target audience is like me, and already knows SQL, this should go without saying. Resist the temptation to be "clever" and overcomplicate things. If your target audience does not know SQL, then either they intend to learn SQL, because they're using a relational database and expect that non-python code or ad-hoc queries will be necessary at some point, or they have no intention of learning SQL, and all their data-access code will now and forever be in python, in which case they would be better off using Durus or ZODB or another OODB. Be honest with these people and everyone will be happier. Django does some cool stuff, but heaven help me if I ever had...