>Yes, I intend to study Python as well. Actually from what I can tell, it seems that the Python user base is about double the size fo the Ruby user base, and I'm a sucker for going with the crowd.

For web fwks Rails actually *is* the heavyweight: google Rails vs. Django or Turbogears.
>
>So, Python is the language.. Tell me: what is the popular app framework that people use on top of it (for basic CRUD apps).
Desktop: possibly Dabo.
>In other words, what is the equivalent of Rails for Python? Is there one that most people use, or are there many competing one, or does each dev build his own. I like it when there is only one! That way, there's not a fragmented community when it comes the framework that everyone is using.

See above, but also Zope [forget it] and pylons and lots of other stuff.
I also used to think fragmentation to be bad -
as I become more fluent I see the benefits if using well designed big blocks
and stringing them together with your own code and partially overwriting it.
You tailor it to your needs - [ I do that with every fwk I use IAC, but I *like* code]
as understanding python source is faster by a lot compared to c, java and c#.

It is also easier to hack against it and try it out. Python is great to build 93%
of the 2.5 person / 9 months project in 8 weeks
[asking for more than 4 single person months worth of compensation is tricky...]

>Also, I'm curious to see how basic data access works in Python or its popular Framework(s).

Special API [dbapi] which has to be implemented for each of the backends - [and usually is]
similar to SQLAdapter and OleDB and Oracle. Support for SQLite as embedded database:
this is getting to be the esperanto format dbf used to be - you have it in probably more apps
than you think, down to your cell phone.

But I am currently hacking away in IronPy at base Ado.Net Dataset classes - great.

from System.Windows.Data import DataTable, DataColumn, DataRow
dTa = DataTable()
Dta.Columns.Add("Surname", str)
Dta.Columns.Add("age", int)
Dta.Rows.Add("nicegirl", 25)
Dta.Rows.Add("oldguy", 75)

or

Dta.Rows.Add(PersonList[0], PersonList[x])

Python strengh are Lists [tink vfp arrays in as many dimensions as you like, each element can be any dataytpe,
including other arrays, tree, object or dictionary. Then there is the dictionary: keyed access to any datatype.

classes get new "fields" [java] or "members"[c#] via something akin to addproperty() but have ways
to define property setters and getters if the need arises or overwriting the access pattern of the whole class.
(I still think the vfp pattern defining the access/assign function name is a stroke somewhere between
genius and thinking through the other laguages mistakes).

Multiple inheritance: great to flatten your inheritance or wrap certain branches with new behaviour.
Nothing to be afraid of... besides getting flak for sitting to long before the keyboard.

regards

thomas