Apache Cassandra 2024 Wrapped: A Year of Innovation and Growth

When Spotify launched its wrapped campaign years ago, it tapped into something we all love - taking a moment to look back and celebrate achievements. As we wind down 2024, we thought it would be fun to do our own "wrapped" for Apache Cassandra®. And what a year it's been! From groundbreaking features in Cassandra 5.0 to explosive growth in AI applications, we've got plenty to unwrap.

The numbers that define success

Let's start with some metrics that would make any open source project proud. This year, our incredible community added over 90,000 lines of new code, with more than 70 active contributors pushing the project forward. That's not just numbers - that's a lot of momentum for a very active project. 

But here's the stat that really gets me excited: JDK 17 support brought a 20% performance improvement (almost for free). As someone who's been around databases for a while, I can tell you that's the kind of gain that gets operations teams excited. It's these kinds of improvements that show how the Cassandra project continues to evolve and adapt to modern infrastructure needs.

Technical evolution

Speaking of evolution, Cassandra 5.0 brought some serious firepower to the table. Storage attached indexes (SAI) revolutionized query flexibility, making it easier than ever to build complex applications on Cassandra. However, the future direction of applications is covered. Vector search capabilities made their debut in Cassandra 5. With the explosion of AI and ML applications, having native vector support positions Cassandra perfectly for the next wave of innovation. This is a feature that will only continue to evolve in this fast-paced field. 

The unified compaction strategy is another example of how the project keeps getting smarter about operations. Anyone who's managed a large Cassandra cluster knows that compaction strategy can make or break your performance. This new approach adapts automatically to your workload, which is exactly the kind of intelligent optimization we need as datasets keep growing.

And let's not forget about dynamic data masking - because security isn't just a checkbox, it's a fundamental requirement for modern applications. If the CISO isn’t happy, nobody’s happy. 

What the community is telling us

Our recent user survey painted a crystal-clear picture of where Cassandra is heading. A whopping 85% of users are either in the cloud or actively moving there. This isn't surprising - it's validation that the architectural decisions made years ago were the right ones. Cassandra was born to run in the clouds, and it shows.

As a sign of the times, this stat caught my attention: AI use cases are projected to grow by 350% next year. That's not a typo. And it's not just future plans - over 50% of respondents are already running generative AI in production, proving Cassandra teams are on the leading edge. Always. This is why features like vector search aren't just nice-to-have; they're essential for where the industry is heading.

The enthusiasm for Cassandra 5.0 is equally impressive, with 62% of users planning to upgrade within the next year. When you consider the careful approach most organizations take with database upgrades, this is a massive vote of confidence in the stability and value of the new features. What are your 2025 plans for Cassandra?

Looking forward

As we roll into 2025, the momentum is undeniable. The features users are most excited about - from ACID transactions to the cost-based query optimizer - show that Cassandra continues to evolve in exactly the right directions. We're seeing the database adapt to new workloads while staying true to its roots of scalability and reliability.

The open source spirit of Cassandra has never been stronger. Every contribution, whether it's code, documentation, or community support, builds on our foundation of collaborative innovation. As someone who's been involved with Cassandra for years, I can honestly say I've never been more excited about where we're heading.

What started as a database designed for scale has become the go-to solution for companies building the future - whether that's AI applications, cloud-native services, or systems that need to handle massive scale without breaking a sweat.

At DataStax, we create products to help you be productive and happy with Cassandra. From fully managed to running workloads in Kubernetes, we have something for everyone. If you are looking at 2025 and wondering what’s next for your Cassandra fleet, we have a lot of options for you to consider. Check out the page we built just for you: https://dtsx.io/cassandra.