The Python ecosystem has long struggled with performant, secure, and cross-platform SQL Server connectivity. After years of reliance on aging packages like pyodbc and pymssql , Microsoft has stepped…

Data Engineer Things

Microsoft released mssql-python v0.6.0, a modern native driver for SQL Server connectivity in Python. The driver replaces aging solutions like pyodbc and pymssql with features including cross-platform support (Windows and macOS, Linux coming soon), built-in connection pooling, Entra ID authentication, DB-API v2.0 compliance, and enhanced security with encrypted connections by default. Key improvements include named tuple row results, better error handling, Python 3.13.5 compatibility, and sensitive data masking in logs. The driver supports modern authentication methods including managed identity and Windows Integrated Authentication, with future plans for asyncio support and bulk copy API.

SQL Server Gets a Python Power Boost: Exploring the Latest mssql-python Driver

Connection Pooling (Windows Only for now)