from http://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/rel_0_7/orm/relationships.html

gistfile1.txt

class Association(Base):
    __tablename__ = 'association'
    left_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey('left.id'), primary_key=True)
    right_id = Column(Integer, ForeignKey('right.id'), primary_key=True)
    extra_data = Column(String(50))
    child = relationship("Child", backref="parent_assocs")

class Parent(Base):
    __tablename__ = 'left'
    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
    children = relationship("Association", backref="parent")

class Child(Base):
    __tablename__ = 'right'
    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
Working with the association pattern in its direct form requires that child objects are associated with an association instance before being appended to the parent; similarly, access from parent to child goes through the association object:

# create parent, append a child via association
p = Parent()
a = Association(extra_data="some data")
a.child = Child()
p.children.append(a)

# iterate through child objects via association, including association
# attributes
for assoc in p.children:
    print assoc.extra_data
    print assoc.child