<p>All the docs for SQLAlchemy give <code>INSERT</code> and <code>UPDATE</code> examples using the local table instance (e.g. <code>tablename.update()</code>... )</p>

<p>Doing this seems difficult with the declarative syntax, I need to reference <code>Base.metadata.tables["tablename"]</code> to get the table reference.</p>

<p>Am I supposed to do this another way?   Is there a different syntax for <code>INSERT</code> and <code>UPDATE</code> recommended when using the declarative syntax?  Should I just switch to the old way?</p>

via the
```
__table__
```
attribute on your declarative class