Niko Neugebauer continues a series on columnstore:
Not since SQL Server 2008 that Microsoft has added a new base data type to SQL Server, but in SQL Server 2025 they have added not 1 but whole 2 new data types – Vector and JSON. The first one (Vector) and the corresponding index (Vector Index) are described in details in the Columnstore Indexes – part 134 (“Vectors and Columnstore Indexes”) and this post is dedicated to the new JSON data type and the new JSON Index and their compatibility with the Columnstore Indexes and the Batch Execution mode.
One common trait for the Vector & JSON Indexes is that both come with a big number of limitations and they are all enabled under a “Preview” option, making them unsuitable for the most production environments.
Niko has a somewhat-humorous and somewhat-infuriating table at the beginning describing just how much support columnstore indexes have for JSON data types.
And it is another example of the frustrating way in which Microsoft will release something before it’s even half-baked, demand consumer adoption to continue working on it, and then can the feature because people can’t use the not-even-half-baked feature in its current state. There’s a fine line between rapid prototyping and quick market feedback versus strangling products in the crib, and I think they’re pretty far onto the wrong side of things when it comes to most SQL Server functionality.