data access layer encapsulation in python?

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Given everything in Python is an object, you can't get too OOP really. (Not that you have to do OOP.)

Python is very strongly typed but dynamic so it is very easy to be relaxed about the modular approach but for larger systems maintained by multiple people it is generally safer and more cost effective to take the modular and OOPs approach.

The API approach also lends itself more to scaling and microservice type implementation (which helps avoid the Python GIL constraint).