diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..555d94fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# Use Python 3.10 with Debian Bullseye as the base image
+FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/python:3.10-bullseye
+
+# Set environment variables
+ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+ENV PYTHONPATH=/workspaces/mssql-python
+ENV CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
+
+# Install system dependencies
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
+    # Build tools
+    build-essential \
+    cmake \
+    pkg-config \
+    ninja-build \
+    # Additional tools
+    curl \
+    wget \
+    git \
+    vim \
+    nano \
+    htop \
+    tree \
+    jq \
+    # Clean up
+    && apt-get clean \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Install Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server
+RUN curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | apt-key add - \
+    && curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/debian/11/prod.list > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mssql-release.list \
+    && apt-get update \
+    && ACCEPT_EULA=Y apt-get install -y msodbcsql18 \
+    && ACCEPT_EULA=Y apt-get install -y mssql-tools18 \
+    && apt-get clean \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Add mssql-tools to PATH
+ENV PATH="$PATH:/opt/mssql-tools18/bin"
+
+# Upgrade pip and install common Python development tools
+RUN python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel \
+    && pip install \
+    black \
+    flake8 \
+    mypy \
+    isort \
+    pre-commit \
+    twine \
+    build \
+    wheel \
+    "pybind11[global]" \
+    pytest-xdist \
+    pytest-mock \
+    "coverage[toml]"
+
+# Set the default user to vscode (created by the base image)
+USER vscode
+
+# Set the working directory
+WORKDIR /workspaces/mssql-python
+
+# Add helpful aliases to .bashrc
+RUN echo 'alias ll="ls -alF"' >> ~/.bashrc \
+    && echo 'alias la="ls -A"' >> ~/.bashrc \
+    && echo 'alias l="ls -CF"' >> ~/.bashrc 
+
+# Default command
+CMD ["/bin/bash"]
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8be46461
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+{
+  "name": "MSSQL Python Driver",
+  "build": {
+    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
+    "context": "."
+  },
+  // Configure tool-specific properties.
+  "customizations": {
+    // Configure properties specific to VS Code.
+    "vscode": {
+      // Set *default* container specific settings.json values on container create.
+      "settings": {
+        "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "/usr/local/bin/python",
+        "python.linting.enabled": true,
+        "python.linting.pylintEnabled": true,
+        "python.formatting.autopep8Path": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/autopep8",
+        "python.formatting.blackPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/black",
+        "python.formatting.yapfPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/yapf",
+        "python.linting.banditPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/bandit",
+        "python.linting.flake8Path": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/flake8",
+        "python.linting.mypyPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/mypy",
+        "python.linting.pycodestylePath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/pycodestyle",
+        "python.linting.pydocstylePath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/pydocstyle",
+        "python.linting.pylintPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/pylint",
+        "cmake.configureOnOpen": false
+      },
+      // Add the IDs of extensions you want installed when the container is created.
+      "extensions": [
+        "ms-python.python",
+        "ms-python.vscode-pylance",
+        "ms-python.pylint",
+        "ms-toolsai.jupyter",
+        "ms-vscode.cmake-tools",
+        "ms-vscode.cpptools",
+        "ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack",
+        "github.copilot",
+        "github.copilot-chat",
+        "ms-vscode.test-adapter-converter",
+        "littlefoxteam.vscode-python-test-adapter",
+        "ms-azuretools.vscode-docker",
+        "ms-mssql.mssql"
+      ]
+    }
+  },
+  // Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
+  "features": {
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {},
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/github-cli:1": {},
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2": {},
+    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/common-utils:2": {
+      "installZsh": true,
+      "configureZshAsDefaultShell": true,
+      "installOhMyZsh": true,
+      "upgradePackages": true,
+      "username": "vscode",
+      "userUid": "automatic",
+      "userGid": "automatic"
+    }
+  },
+  // Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
+  "forwardPorts": [],
+  // Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
+  "postCreateCommand": "bash .devcontainer/post-create.sh",
+  // Use 'postStartCommand' to run commands after the container starts.
+  "postStartCommand": "",
+  // Configure tool-specific properties.
+  "remoteUser": "vscode",
+  // Set container environment variables
+  "containerEnv": {
+    "PYTHONPATH": "/workspaces/mssql-python",
+    "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"
+  },
+  // Mount the project directory
+  "workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/workspaces/mssql-python,type=bind,consistency=cached",
+  "workspaceFolder": "/workspaces/mssql-python"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.devcontainer/post-create.sh b/.devcontainer/post-create.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..58fd4643
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/post-create.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Post-create script for MSSQL Python Driver devcontainer
+set -e
+
+echo "🚀 Setting up MSSQL Python Driver development environment..."
+
+# Update package lists
+echo "📦 Updating package lists..."
+sudo apt-get update
+
+# Install system dependencies required for the project
+echo "🔧 Installing system dependencies..."
+sudo apt-get install -y \
+    python3 \
+    python3-pip \
+    python3-venv \
+    python3-full \
+    cmake \
+    curl \
+    wget \
+    gnupg \
+    software-properties-common \
+    build-essential \
+    python3-dev \
+    pybind11-dev
+
+export TZ=UTC
+ln -snf /usr/share/zoneinfo/$TZ /etc/localtime && echo $TZ > /etc/timezone
+
+# Install Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server (required for mssql connectivity)
+echo "🗄️ Installing Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server..."
+curl -sSL -O https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/22.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb
+sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb || true
+rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb
+
+sudo apt-get update
+# Install the driver
+ACCEPT_EULA=Y sudo apt-get install -y msodbcsql18
+# optional: for bcp and sqlcmd
+ACCEPT_EULA=Y sudo apt-get install -y mssql-tools18
+# optional: for unixODBC development headers
+sudo apt-get install -y unixodbc-dev
+
+# Create a Python virtual environment
+echo "🐍 Creating Python virtual environment..."
+python3 -m venv /workspaces/mssql-python/opt/venv
+source /workspaces/mssql-python/opt/venv/bin/activate
+
+python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+
+# Make the virtual environment globally available
+echo 'source /workspaces/mssql-python/opt/venv/bin/activate' >> ~/.bashrc
+
+# Install project dependencies
+echo "📚 Installing project dependencies..."
+pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+# Create useful aliases
+echo "⚡ Setting up aliases..."
+cat >> ~/.bashrc << 'EOF'
+
+# MSSQL Python Driver aliases
+alias ll='ls -alF'
+alias la='ls -A'
+alias l='ls -CF'
+alias clean='find . -type f -name "*.pyc" -delete && find . -type d -name "__pycache__" -delete'
+
+EOF
+
+# Set up git configuration (if not already configured)
+echo "🔧 Configuring git..."
+if [ -z "$(git config --global user.name)" ]; then
+    echo "Git user name not set. You may want to configure it with:"
+    echo "  git config --global user.name 'Your Name'"
+fi
+if [ -z "$(git config --global user.email)" ]; then
+    echo "Git user email not set. You may want to configure it with:"
+    echo "  git config --global user.email 'your.email@example.com'"
+fi
+
+# Display information about the environment
+echo ""
+echo "✅ Development environment setup complete!"
+
diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c2fe614
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+# Git
+.git
+.gitignore
+.gitattributes
+
+# Python
+__pycache__
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*.pyd
+.Python
+env
+pip-log.txt
+pip-delete-this-directory.txt
+.tox
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+.cache
+nosetests.xml
+coverage.xml
+*.cover
+*.log
+.mypy_cache
+.pytest_cache
+.hypothesis
+
+# Distribution / packaging
+build/
+develop-eggs/
+dist/
+downloads/
+eggs/
+.eggs/
+lib/
+lib64/
+parts/
+sdist/
+var/
+wheels/
+*.egg-info/
+.installed.cfg
+*.egg
+
+# PyInstaller
+*.manifest
+*.spec
+
+# Installer logs
+pip-log.txt
+
+# Unit test / coverage reports
+htmlcov/
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+nosetests.xml
+coverage.xml
+*.cover
+.hypothesis/
+
+# Translations
+*.mo
+*.pot
+
+# Documentation
+docs/_build/
+
+# PyBuilder
+target/
+
+# IDEs
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+
+# OS
+.DS_Store
+.DS_Store?
+._*
+.Spotlight-V100
+.Trashes
+ehthumbs.db
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Temporary files
+*.tmp
+*.temp
+*.log
+
+# Node.js (if any)
+node_modules/
+npm-debug.log*
+
+# CMake
+CMakeCache.txt
+CMakeFiles/
+cmake_install.cmake
+Makefile
+*.cmake
+
+# Build artifacts
+*.so
+*.dll
+*.dylib
+*.pdb
+*.obj
+*.exe
+
+# Test results
+test-results/
+.pytest_cache/
+
+# Azure DevOps
+.azure/