Release DataFusion `55.0.0` (Jul / Aug 2026)

[alamb]

Is your feature request related to a problem or challenge?

Previous release is #21080 (May, 2026) so next major release would be approximately Jun / Jul 2026

Steps:

• Create a branch-55 branch:
• Update version and changelog:
• Test with DataFusion Python
• Test with DataFusion Comet
• Test with DataFusion Ballista
• Test with delta.rs:
• Test vortex:
• Test with iceberg-rust:
• Test with LakeSail:
• Test with parquet viewer
• Test with datafusion-materialized-views
• Voting Thread
• Publish to crates.io
• Create ticket for next release:
• Create blog post:

Features to mention in the blog (if they make it)

• [EPIC] Simplify datetime predicates using "preimages" #19946
• [EPIC] Implement Range Partitioning #22395
• Further improve performance of IN list evaluation #19241 from @geoffreyclaude
• [EPIC] Sort Pushdown: skip sorts and skip IO / decode for ORDER BY / TopK queries #23036 from @zhuqi-lucas
• EPIC: complete GroupValuesColumn type coverage (nested types + remaining primitives) #22715 from @zhuqi-lucas
• feat: add strictness metadata for scalar UDF null propagation and use it in outer join elimination #23148
• feat: Plumb Parquet virtual columns (row_number) through TableSchema and ParquetOpener #22026 from @mbutrovich / Add file_row_index UDF to query file-level row indexes from Parquet files #22604 from @AdamGS
• Add MERGE INTO types to datafusion-expr #20763 from @wirybeaver
• feat: introduce pluggable SpillFile trait and TempFileFactory for custom spill backends #21882 from @pantShrey

Tracking Epics

• [EPIC] Split Aggregation Logic into Dedicated Streams #22710 @alamb / @2010YOUY01 / @Rachelint

Bugs that should be fixed

Community Wishlist

[alamb]

Updated the title to reflect my prediction we'll get this one done in late July / early August