DuckDB 1.5 drops with Variant type, CLI upgrades

The new Variant type is a massive performance win for unstructured data, reinforcing DuckDB as the premier tool for local data processing and AI pipelines.

• –Physical JSON shredding into separate columns drastically speeds up single-key aggregations, solving a common bottleneck.
• –The revamped CLI with syntax highlighting and dynamic prompting significantly improves the out-of-the-box developer experience.
• –Non-blocking checkpointing unlocks true concurrent read and write operations without halting analysis.
• –Integrating native spatial capabilities directly into the core simplifies geospatial workflows, removing extension dependencies.