pythonpandasstringsdtypeafter-work
pandas 3.0 after work: dedicated str dtype (not object)
pandas 3.0.0 (21 Jan 2026) infers string columns as dedicated str dtype (Arrow-backed if PyArrow is present), with missing values as NaN — not object. After-work type-migration checklist. Separate from the CoW vs Polars Hub note. Not investment advice.