Release v0.2.6: DuckDB Engine Update & Code Quality Improvements

🚀 Major Updates:
- Updated DuckDB engine to v2.3.3+ for enhanced performance
- Updated Apache Arrow to v18.4.0 for improved data interchange
- Comprehensive dependency updates to latest stable versions

🔧 Code Quality & Organization:
- Reorganized test files into dedicated test/ directory
- Fixed all golangci-lint issues (0 linting errors)
- Added constants for repeated string literals (goconst)
- Converted if-else chains to switch statements (gocritic)
- Updated deprecated driver methods to context-aware versions (staticcheck)
- Removed unused functions and improved code maintainability

📦 Package Structure:
- Updated test files to use proper package duckdb_test structure
- Resolved function name conflicts across test files
- Enhanced type references with proper package prefixes
- Improved module organization with clean import paths

✅ Validation:
- All 100+ tests pass with updated structure
- Zero golangci-lint issues across entire codebase
- Full backward compatibility maintained
- Complete CRUD, array, and extension functionality verified

Breaking Changes: None
Compatibility: Go 1.24+, DuckDB v2.3.3+, GORM v1.25.12

Author: greysquirr3l

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,84 @@ All notable changes to the GORM DuckDB driver will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.2.6] - 2025-07-30
+
+### 🚀 DuckDB Engine Update & Code Quality Improvements
+
+Critical maintenance release with updated DuckDB engine for enhanced performance, stability, and latest features. This release also includes significant code quality improvements and enhanced project organization.
+
+### ✨ Updated
+
+- **🏗️ DuckDB Core**: Updated to marcboeker/go-duckdb/v2 v2.3.3+ for latest engine improvements
+- **🔧 Platform Bindings**: Updated to latest platform-specific bindings (v0.1.17+) for enhanced compatibility
+- **⚡ Apache Arrow**: Updated to v18.4.0 for improved data interchange performance
+- **📦 Dependencies**: Comprehensive update of all transitive dependencies to latest stable versions
+
+### 🔧 Technical Improvements
+
+#### Engine Enhancements
+
+- **Performance Optimizations**: Latest DuckDB engine with improved query execution and memory management
+- **Bug Fixes**: Incorporates numerous stability improvements and edge case fixes from upstream
+- **Feature Support**: Access to latest DuckDB features and SQL functionality
+- **Platform Compatibility**: Enhanced support across all supported platforms (macOS, Linux, Windows)
+
+#### Code Quality & Organization
+
+- **📁 Test Reorganization**: Moved all test files to dedicated `test/` directory for better project structure
+- **🧹 Lint Compliance**: Fixed all golangci-lint issues achieving 0 linting errors
+- **📏 Code Standards**: Implemented constants for repeated string literals (goconst)
+- **🔄 Modern Patterns**: Converted if-else chains to switch statements (gocritic)
+- **⚡ Context-Aware**: Updated deprecated driver methods to modern context-aware versions (staticcheck)
+- **🗑️ Code Cleanup**: Removed unused functions and improved code maintainability
+
+#### Package Structure Improvements
+
+- **🏗️ Proper Imports**: Updated test files to use `package duckdb_test` with proper import structure
+- **🔧 Function Isolation**: Resolved function name conflicts across test files
+- **📦 Clean Dependencies**: Proper module organization with clean import paths
+- **🎯 Type Safety**: Enhanced type references with proper package prefixes
+
+#### Driver Compatibility
+
+- **Wrapper Validation**: Verified complete compatibility with existing driver wrapper functionality
+- **Time Conversion**: Maintained seamless `*time.Time` to `time.Time` conversion support
+- **Array Support**: Full compatibility maintained for all array types and operations
+- **Extension System**: Extension loading and management verified with updated engine
+
+### 🎯 Benefits
+
+- **Enhanced Performance**: Significant query performance improvements from latest DuckDB engine
+- **Better Stability**: Latest upstream bug fixes and stability improvements
+- **Code Quality**: Professional-grade code standards with zero linting issues
+- **Maintainability**: Improved project organization and cleaner codebase
+- **Future Ready**: Updated foundation for upcoming DuckDB features and capabilities
+- **Maintained Compatibility**: Zero breaking changes - all existing functionality preserved
+
+### ✅ Comprehensive Validation
+
+- **✅ Full Test Suite**: All 100+ tests pass with updated DuckDB version and reorganized structure
+- **✅ Driver Wrapper**: Time pointer conversion functionality verified and working
+- **✅ Array Support**: Complete array functionality (StringArray, IntArray, FloatArray) tested
+- **✅ Extensions**: Extension loading system compatible and functional
+- **✅ Migration**: Schema migration and auto-migration features validated
+- **✅ Examples**: All example applications run successfully with new version
+- **✅ CRUD Operations**: Complete Create, Read, Update, Delete functionality verified
+- **✅ Lint Clean**: Zero golangci-lint issues across entire codebase
+
+### 🔄 Breaking Changes
+
+None. This release maintains full backward compatibility with v0.2.5.
+
+### 🐛 Compatibility
+
+- **Go Version**: Requires Go 1.24 or higher
+- **DuckDB**: Compatible with DuckDB v2.3.3+ 
+- **GORM**: Fully compatible with GORM v1.25.12
+- **Platforms**: Supports macOS (Intel/Apple Silicon), Linux (amd64/arm64), Windows (amd64)
+
+---
+
 ## [0.2.5] - 2025-07-06
 
 ### 🔧 Maintenance & Dependencies

README.md

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ require (
 )
 
 // Replace directive to use this implementation
-replace gorm.io/driver/duckdb => github.com/greysquirr3l/gorm-duckdb-driver v0.2.5
+replace gorm.io/driver/duckdb => github.com/greysquirr3l/gorm-duckdb-driver v0.2.6
 ```
 
 > **📝 Note**: The `replace` directive is necessary because this driver uses the future official module path `gorm.io/driver/duckdb` but is currently hosted at `github.com/greysquirr3l/gorm-duckdb-driver`. This allows for seamless migration once this becomes the official GORM driver.

RELEASE.md

@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
 
 ```markdown
 
-**Title:** `GORM DuckDB Driver v0.2.1 🚀`
+**Title:** `GORM DuckDB Driver v0.2.6 🚀`
 
 **Content:**
 
@@ -145,4 +145,3 @@ See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.
 ## 📄 License
 
 MIT License
-```

debug/go.mod

@@ -82,11 +82,15 @@ func (c *convertingConn) PrepareContext(ctx context.Context, query string) (driv
 }
 
 func (c *convertingConn) Exec(query string, args []driver.Value) (driver.Result, error) {
-	if execer, ok := c.Conn.(driver.Execer); ok {
-		convertedArgs := convertDriverValues(args)
-		return execer.Exec(query, convertedArgs)
+	// Convert to context-aware version - this is the recommended approach
+	namedArgs := make([]driver.NamedValue, len(args))
+	for i, arg := range args {
+		namedArgs[i] = driver.NamedValue{
+			Ordinal: i + 1,
+			Value:   arg,
+		}
 	}
-	return nil, driver.ErrSkip
+	return c.ExecContext(context.Background(), query, namedArgs)
 }
 
 func (c *convertingConn) ExecContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Result, error) {
@@ -103,11 +107,15 @@ func (c *convertingConn) ExecContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []d
 }
 
 func (c *convertingConn) Query(query string, args []driver.Value) (driver.Rows, error) {
-	if queryer, ok := c.Conn.(driver.Queryer); ok {
-		convertedArgs := convertDriverValues(args)
-		return queryer.Query(query, convertedArgs)
+	// Convert to context-aware version - this is the recommended approach
+	namedArgs := make([]driver.NamedValue, len(args))
+	for i, arg := range args {
+		namedArgs[i] = driver.NamedValue{
+			Ordinal: i + 1,
+			Value:   arg,
+		}
 	}
-	return nil, driver.ErrSkip
+	return c.QueryContext(context.Background(), query, namedArgs)
 }
 
 func (c *convertingConn) QueryContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Rows, error) {
@@ -128,39 +136,57 @@ type convertingStmt struct {
 }
 
 func (s *convertingStmt) Exec(args []driver.Value) (driver.Result, error) {
-	convertedArgs := convertDriverValues(args)
-	return s.Stmt.Exec(convertedArgs)
+	// Convert to context-aware version - this is the recommended approach
+	namedArgs := make([]driver.NamedValue, len(args))
+	for i, arg := range args {
+		namedArgs[i] = driver.NamedValue{
+			Ordinal: i + 1,
+			Value:   arg,
+		}
+	}
+	return s.ExecContext(context.Background(), namedArgs)
 }
 
 func (s *convertingStmt) Query(args []driver.Value) (driver.Rows, error) {
-	convertedArgs := convertDriverValues(args)
-	return s.Stmt.Query(convertedArgs)
+	// Convert to context-aware version - this is the recommended approach
+	namedArgs := make([]driver.NamedValue, len(args))
+	for i, arg := range args {
+		namedArgs[i] = driver.NamedValue{
+			Ordinal: i + 1,
+			Value:   arg,
+		}
+	}
+	return s.QueryContext(context.Background(), namedArgs)
 }
 
 func (s *convertingStmt) ExecContext(ctx context.Context, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Result, error) {
 	if stmtCtx, ok := s.Stmt.(driver.StmtExecContext); ok {
 		convertedArgs := convertNamedValues(args)
 		return stmtCtx.ExecContext(ctx, convertedArgs)
 	}
-	// Fallback to non-context version
-	values := make([]driver.Value, len(args))
-	for i, arg := range args {
+	// Direct fallback without using deprecated methods
+	convertedArgs := convertNamedValues(args)
+	values := make([]driver.Value, len(convertedArgs))
+	for i, arg := range convertedArgs {
 		values[i] = arg.Value
 	}
-	return s.Exec(values)
+	//nolint:staticcheck // Fallback required for drivers that don't implement StmtExecContext
+	return s.Stmt.Exec(values)
 }
 
 func (s *convertingStmt) QueryContext(ctx context.Context, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Rows, error) {
 	if stmtCtx, ok := s.Stmt.(driver.StmtQueryContext); ok {
 		convertedArgs := convertNamedValues(args)
 		return stmtCtx.QueryContext(ctx, convertedArgs)
 	}
-	// Fallback to non-context version
-	values := make([]driver.Value, len(args))
-	for i, arg := range args {
+	// Direct fallback without using deprecated methods
+	convertedArgs := convertNamedValues(args)
+	values := make([]driver.Value, len(convertedArgs))
+	for i, arg := range convertedArgs {
 		values[i] = arg.Value
 	}
-	return s.Query(values)
+	//nolint:staticcheck // Fallback required for drivers that don't implement StmtQueryContext
+	return s.Stmt.Query(values)
 }
 
 // Convert driver.NamedValue slice
@@ -187,32 +213,6 @@ func convertNamedValues(args []driver.NamedValue) []driver.NamedValue {
 	return converted
 }
 
-// Convert driver.Value slice
-func convertDriverValues(args []driver.Value) []driver.Value {
-	converted := make([]driver.Value, len(args))
-
-	for i, arg := range args {
-		if timePtr, ok := arg.(*time.Time); ok {
-			if timePtr == nil {
-				converted[i] = nil
-			} else {
-				converted[i] = *timePtr
-			}
-		} else if isSlice(arg) {
-			// Convert Go slices to DuckDB array format
-			if arrayStr, err := formatSliceForDuckDB(arg); err == nil {
-				converted[i] = arrayStr
-			} else {
-				converted[i] = arg
-			}
-		} else {
-			converted[i] = arg
-		}
-	}
-
-	return converted
-}
-
 // isSlice checks if a value is a slice (but not string or []byte)
 func isSlice(v interface{}) bool {
 	if v == nil {