This changes `lancedb` from a "pure python" setuptools project to a
maturin project and adds a rust lancedb dependency.
The async python client is extremely minimal (only `connect` and
`Connection.table_names` are supported). The purpose of this PR is to
get the infrastructure in place for building out the rest of the async
client.
Although this is not technically a breaking change (no APIs are
changing) it is still a considerable change in the way the wheels are
built because they now include the native shared library.
This PR refactors how we handle read consistency: does the `LanceTable`
class always pick up modifications to the table made by other instance
or processes. Users have three options they can set at the connection
level:
1. (Default) `read_consistency_interval=None` means it will not check at
all. Users can call `table.checkout_latest()` to manually check for
updates.
2. `read_consistency_interval=timedelta(0)` means **always** check for
updates, giving strong read consistency.
3. `read_consistency_interval=timedelta(seconds=20)` means check for
updates every 20 seconds. This is eventual consistency, a compromise
between the two options above.
## Table reference state
There is now an explicit difference between a `LanceTable` that tracks
the current version and one that is fixed at a historical version. We
now enforce that users cannot write if they have checked out an old
version. They are instructed to call `checkout_latest()` before calling
the write methods.
Since `conn.open_table()` doesn't have a parameter for version, users
will only get fixed references if they call `table.checkout()`.
The difference between these two can be seen in the repr: Table that are
fixed at a particular version will have a `version` displayed in the
repr. Otherwise, the version will not be shown.
```python
>>> table
LanceTable(connection=..., name="my_table")
>>> table.checkout(1)
>>> table
LanceTable(connection=..., name="my_table", version=1)
```
I decided to not create different classes for these states, because I
think we already have enough complexity with the Cloud vs OSS table
references.
Based on #812
Add `to_list` to return query results as list of python dict (so we're
not too pandas-centric). Closes#555
Add `to_pandas` API and add deprecation warning on `to_df`. Closes#545
Co-authored-by: Chang She <chang@lancedb.com>
