Microsoft for Python Developers Blog

Abstraction: Microsoft engineering blog covering Python tooling, VS Code, and mssql-python driver

Key points:

• mssql-python driver now supports fetching SQL Server data directly as Apache Arrow structures, eliminating Python-object-per-row overhead for Polars, Pandas, and DuckDB workflows
• Arrow integration contributed by community developer Felix Gra{\ss}l; enables zero-copy data transfer from SQL Server to Arrow-native libraries
• Dual parameter style support added to mssql-python: both qmark (?) and pyformat (%(name)s) styles now work in the same driver
• Context manager support introduced for mssql-python, enabling with-statement safe connection and cursor lifecycle management
• Monthly release cadence for Python and Jupyter extensions in VS Code; April 2026 release focused on Python Environments extension improvements
• November 2025 Pylance update included Copilot Hover Summaries and wildcard-import-to-explicit-import code action

Connections: Microsoft · Visual Studio Code · Python Programming · Apache Arrow

Source: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/pythonengineering/