googleapis
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 from google.api_core.gapic_v1.client_info import ClientInfo
 from google.cloud import spanner_v1 as spanner
 from google.cloud.spanner_v1.session import _get_retry_delay
+from google.cloud.spanner_v1.snapshot import Snapshot
 
 from google.cloud.spanner_dbapi._helpers import _execute_insert_heterogenous
 from google.cloud.spanner_dbapi._helpers import _execute_insert_homogenous
@@ -50,15 +51,31 @@ class Connection:
 
     :type database: :class:`~google.cloud.spanner_v1.database.Database`
     :param database: The database to which the connection is linked.
+
+    :type read_only: bool
+    :param read_only:
+        Flag to indicate that the connection may only execute queries and no update or DDL statements.
+        If True, the connection will use a single use read-only transaction with strong timestamp
+        bound for each new statement, and will immediately see any changes that have been committed by
+        any other transaction.
+        If autocommit is false, the connection will automatically start a new multi use read-only transaction
+        with strong timestamp bound when the first statement is executed. This read-only transaction will be
+        used for all subsequent statements until either commit() or rollback() is called on the connection. The
+        read-only transaction will read from a consistent snapshot of the database at the time that the
+        transaction started. This means that the transaction will not see any changes that have been
+        committed by other transactions since the start of the read-only transaction. Commit or rolling back
+        the read-only transaction is semantically the same, and only indicates that the read-only transaction
+        should end a that a new one should be started when the next statement is executed.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, instance, database):
+    def __init__(self, instance, database, read_only=False):
         self._instance = instance
         self._database = database
         self._ddl_statements = []
 
         self._transaction = None
         self._session = None
+        self._snapshot = None
         # SQL statements, which were executed
         # within the current transaction
         self._statements = []
@@ -69,6 +86,7 @@ def __init__(self, instance, database):
         # this connection should be cleared on the
         # connection close
         self._own_pool = True
+        self._read_only = read_only
 
     @property
     def autocommit(self):
@@ -123,6 +141,30 @@ def instance(self):
         """
         return self._instance
 
+    @property
+    def read_only(self):
+        """Flag: the connection can be used only for database reads.
+
+        Returns:
+            bool:
+                True if the connection may only be used for database reads.
+        """
+        return self._read_only
+
+    @read_only.setter
+    def read_only(self, value):
+        """`read_only` flag setter.
+
+        Args:
+            value (bool): True for ReadOnly mode, False for ReadWrite.
+        """
+        if self.inside_transaction:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Connection read/write mode can't be changed while a transaction is in progress. "
+                "Commit or rollback the current transaction and try again."
+            )
+        self._read_only = value
+
     def _session_checkout(self):
         """Get a Cloud Spanner session from the pool.
 
@@ -231,6 +273,22 @@ def transaction_checkout(self):
 
             return self._transaction
 
+    def snapshot_checkout(self):
+        """Get a Cloud Spanner snapshot.
+
+        Initiate a new multi-use snapshot, if there is no snapshot in
+        this connection yet. Return the existing one otherwise.
+
+        :rtype: :class:`google.cloud.spanner_v1.snapshot.Snapshot`
+        :returns: A Cloud Spanner snapshot object, ready to use.
+        """
+        if self.read_only and not self.autocommit:
+            if not self._snapshot:
+                self._snapshot = Snapshot(self._session_checkout(), multi_use=True)
+                self._snapshot.begin()
+
+            return self._snapshot
+
     def _raise_if_closed(self):
         """Helper to check the connection state before running a query.
         Raises an exception if this connection is closed.
@@ -259,14 +317,18 @@ def commit(self):
 
         This method is non-operational in autocommit mode.
         """
+        self._snapshot = None
+
         if self._autocommit:
             warnings.warn(AUTOCOMMIT_MODE_WARNING, UserWarning, stacklevel=2)
             return
 
         self.run_prior_DDL_statements()
         if self.inside_transaction:
             try:
-                self._transaction.commit()
+                if not self.read_only:
+                    self._transaction.commit()
+
                 self._release_session()
                 self._statements = []
             except Aborted:
@@ -279,10 +341,14 @@ def rollback(self):
         This is a no-op if there is no active transaction or if the connection
         is in autocommit mode.
         """
+        self._snapshot = None
+
         if self._autocommit:
             warnings.warn(AUTOCOMMIT_MODE_WARNING, UserWarning, stacklevel=2)
         elif self._transaction:
-            self._transaction.rollback()
+            if not self.read_only:
+                self._transaction.rollback()
+
             self._release_session()
             self._statements = []
 

@@ -186,6 +186,10 @@ def execute(self, sql, args=None):
 
         # Classify whether this is a read-only SQL statement.
         try:
+            if self.connection.read_only:
+                self._handle_DQL(sql, args or None)
+                return
+
             classification = parse_utils.classify_stmt(sql)
             if classification == parse_utils.STMT_DDL:
                 ddl_statements = []
@@ -325,14 +329,15 @@ def fetchone(self):
 
         try:
             res = next(self)
-            if not self.connection.autocommit:
+            if not self.connection.autocommit and not self.connection.read_only:
                 self._checksum.consume_result(res)
             return res
         except StopIteration:
             return
         except Aborted:
-            self.connection.retry_transaction()
-            return self.fetchone()
+            if not self.connection.read_only:
+                self.connection.retry_transaction()
+                return self.fetchone()
 
     def fetchall(self):
         """Fetch all (remaining) rows of a query result, returning them as
@@ -343,12 +348,13 @@ def fetchall(self):
         res = []
         try:
             for row in self:
-                if not self.connection.autocommit:
+                if not self.connection.autocommit and not self.connection.read_only:
                     self._checksum.consume_result(row)
                 res.append(row)
         except Aborted:
-            self.connection.retry_transaction()
-            return self.fetchall()
+            if not self.connection.read_only:
+                self.connection.retry_transaction()
+                return self.fetchall()
 
         return res
 
@@ -372,14 +378,15 @@ def fetchmany(self, size=None):
         for i in range(size):
             try:
                 res = next(self)
-                if not self.connection.autocommit:
+                if not self.connection.autocommit and not self.connection.read_only:
                     self._checksum.consume_result(res)
                 items.append(res)
             except StopIteration:
                 break
             except Aborted:
-                self.connection.retry_transaction()
-                return self.fetchmany(size)
+                if not self.connection.read_only:
+                    self.connection.retry_transaction()
+                    return self.fetchmany(size)
 
         return items
 
@@ -395,38 +402,39 @@ def setoutputsize(self, size, column=None):
         """A no-op, raising an error if the cursor or connection is closed."""
         self._raise_if_closed()
 
+    def _handle_DQL_with_snapshot(self, snapshot, sql, params):
+        # Reference
+        #  https://googleapis.dev/python/spanner/latest/session-api.html#google.cloud.spanner_v1.session.Session.execute_sql
+        sql, params = parse_utils.sql_pyformat_args_to_spanner(sql, params)
+        res = snapshot.execute_sql(
+            sql, params=params, param_types=get_param_types(params)
+        )
+        # Immediately using:
+        #   iter(response)
+        # here, because this Spanner API doesn't provide
+        # easy mechanisms to detect when only a single item
+        # is returned or many, yet mixing results that
+        # are for .fetchone() with those that would result in
+        # many items returns a RuntimeError if .fetchone() is
+        # invoked and vice versa.
+        self._result_set = res
+        # Read the first element so that the StreamedResultSet can
+        # return the metadata after a DQL statement. See issue #155.
+        self._itr = PeekIterator(self._result_set)
+        # Unfortunately, Spanner doesn't seem to send back
+        # information about the number of rows available.
+        self._row_count = _UNSET_COUNT
+
     def _handle_DQL(self, sql, params):
-        with self.connection.database.snapshot() as snapshot:
-            # Reference
-            #  https://googleapis.dev/python/spanner/latest/session-api.html#google.cloud.spanner_v1.session.Session.execute_sql
-            sql, params = parse_utils.sql_pyformat_args_to_spanner(sql, params)
-            res = snapshot.execute_sql(
-                sql, params=params, param_types=get_param_types(params)
+        if self.connection.read_only and not self.connection.autocommit:
+            # initiate or use the existing multi-use snapshot
+            self._handle_DQL_with_snapshot(
+                self.connection.snapshot_checkout(), sql, params
             )
-            if type(res) == int:
-                self._row_count = res
-                self._itr = None
-            else:
-                # Immediately using:
-                #   iter(response)
-                # here, because this Spanner API doesn't provide
-                # easy mechanisms to detect when only a single item
-                # is returned or many, yet mixing results that
-                # are for .fetchone() with those that would result in
-                # many items returns a RuntimeError if .fetchone() is
-                # invoked and vice versa.
-                self._result_set = res
-                # Read the first element so that the StreamedResultSet can
-                # return the metadata after a DQL statement. See issue #155.
-                while True:
-                    try:
-                        self._itr = PeekIterator(self._result_set)
-                        break
-                    except Aborted:
-                        self.connection.retry_transaction()
-                # Unfortunately, Spanner doesn't seem to send back
-                # information about the number of rows available.
-                self._row_count = _UNSET_COUNT
+        else:
+            # execute with single-use snapshot
+            with self.connection.database.snapshot() as snapshot:
+                self._handle_DQL_with_snapshot(snapshot, sql, params)
 
     def __enter__(self):
         return self

@@ -19,9 +19,11 @@
 
 from google.cloud import spanner_v1
 from google.cloud.spanner_dbapi.connection import connect, Connection
+from google.cloud.spanner_dbapi.exceptions import ProgrammingError
 from google.cloud.spanner_v1 import JsonObject
 from . import _helpers
 
+
 DATABASE_NAME = "dbapi-txn"
 
 DDL_STATEMENTS = (
@@ -406,3 +408,24 @@ def test_user_agent(shared_instance, dbapi_database):
         conn.instance._client._client_info.user_agent
         == "dbapi/" + pkg_resources.get_distribution("google-cloud-spanner").version
     )
+
+
+def test_read_only(shared_instance, dbapi_database):
+    """
+    Check that connection set to `read_only=True` uses
+    ReadOnly transactions.
+    """
+    conn = Connection(shared_instance, dbapi_database, read_only=True)
+    cur = conn.cursor()
+
+    with pytest.raises(ProgrammingError):
+        cur.execute(
+            """
+UPDATE contacts
+SET first_name = 'updated-first-name'
+WHERE first_name = 'first-name'
+"""
+        )
+
+    cur.execute("SELECT * FROM contacts")
+    conn.commit()