Kedro

Major features and improvements
* Allowed using of custom cookiecutter templates for creating pipelines with `--template` flag for `kedro pipeline create` or via `template/pipeline` folder.
* Allowed overriding of configuration keys with runtime parameters using the `runtime_params` resolver with `OmegaConfigLoader`.

Bug fixes and other changes
* Updated dataset factories to resolve nested catalog config properly.
* Updated `OmegaConfigLoader` to handle paths containing dots outside of `conf_source`.
* Made `settings.py` optional.

Documentation changes
* Added documentation to clarify execution order of hooks.
* Added a notebook example for spaceflights to illustrate how to incrementally add Kedro features.
* Moved documentation for the `standalone-datacatalog` starter into its [README file](https://github.com/kedro-org/kedro-starters/tree/main/standalone-datacatalog).
* Added new documentation about deploying a Kedro project with Amazon EMR.
* Added new documentation about how to publish a Kedro-Viz project to make it shareable.
* New TSC members added to the page and the organisation of each member is also now listed.
* Plus some minor bug fixes and changes across the documentation.

Major features and improvements
* Added support for Python 3.11. This includes tackling challenges like dependency pinning and test adjustments to ensure a smooth experience. Detailed migration tips are provided below for further context.
* Added new `OmegaConfigLoader` features:
* Allowed registering of custom resolvers to `OmegaConfigLoader` through `CONFIG_LOADER_ARGS`.
* Added support for global variables to `OmegaConfigLoader`.
* Added `kedro catalog resolve` CLI command that resolves dataset factories in the catalog with any explicit entries in the project pipeline.
* Implemented a flat `conf/` structure for modular pipelines, and accordingly, updated the `kedro pipeline create` and `kedro catalog create` command.
* Updated new Kedro project template and Kedro starters:
* Change Kedro starters and new Kedro projects to use `OmegaConfigLoader`.
* Converted `setup.py` in new Kedro project template and Kedro starters to `pyproject.toml` and moved flake8 configuration
to dedicated file `.flake8`.
* Updated the spaceflights starter to use the new flat `conf/` structure.

Bug fixes and other changes
* Updated `OmegaConfigLoader` to ignore config from hidden directories like `.ipynb_checkpoints`.

Documentation changes
* Revised the `data` section to restructure beginner and advanced pages about the Data Catalog and datasets.
* Moved contributor documentation to the [GitHub wiki](https://github.com/kedro-org/kedro/wiki/Contribute-to-Kedro).
* Updated example of using generator functions in nodes.
* Added migration guide from the `ConfigLoader` and the `TemplatedConfigLoader` to the `OmegaConfigLoader`. The `ConfigLoader` and the `TemplatedConfigLoader` are deprecated and will be removed in the `0.19.0` release.

Migration Tips for Python 3.11:
* PyTables on Windows: Users on Windows with Python >=3.8 should note we've pinned `pytables` to `3.8.0` due to compatibility issues.
* Spark Dependency: We've set an upper version limit for `pyspark` at <3.4 due to breaking changes in 3.4.
* Testing with Python 3.10: The latest `moto` version now supports parallel test execution for Python 3.10, resolving previous issues.

Breaking changes to the API

Major features and improvements
* Added dataset factories feature which uses pattern matching to reduce the number of catalog entries.
* Activated all built-in resolvers by default for `OmegaConfigLoader` except for `oc.env`.
* Added `kedro catalog rank` CLI command that ranks dataset factories in the catalog by matching priority.

Bug fixes and other changes
* Consolidated dependencies and optional dependencies in `pyproject.toml`.
* Made validation of unique node outputs much faster.
* Updated `kedro catalog list` to show datasets generated with factories.

Documentation changes
* Recommended `ruff` as the linter and removed mentions of `pylint`, `isort`, `flake8`.

Community contributions
Thanks to [Laíza Milena Scheid Parizotto](https://github.com/laizaparizotto) and [Chris Schopp](https://github.com/cschopp-simwell).

Breaking changes to the API

Major features and improvements
* Added `databricks-iris` as an official starter.

Bug fixes and other changes
* Reworked micropackaging workflow to use standard Python packaging practices.
* Make `kedro micropkg package` accept `--verbose`.
* Compare for protocol and delimiter in `PartitionedDataSet` to be able to pass the protocol to partitions which paths starts with the same characters as the protocol (e.g. `s3://s3-my-bucket`).

Documentation changes
* Significant improvements to the documentation that covers working with Databricks and Kedro, including a new page for workspace-only development, and a guide to choosing the best workflow for your use case.
* Updated documentation for deploying with Prefect for version 2.0.
* Added documentation for developing a Kedro project using a Databricks workspace.

Breaking changes to the API
* Logging is decoupled from `ConfigLoader`, use `KEDRO_LOGGING_CONFIG` to configure logging.

Major features and improvements
* Rebrand across all documentation and Kedro assets.
* Added support for variable interpolation in the catalog with the `OmegaConfigLoader`.

Major features and improvements
* `kedro run --params` now updates interpolated parameters correctly when using `OmegaConfigLoader`.
* Added `metadata` attribute to `kedro.io` datasets. This is ignored by Kedro, but may be consumed by users or external plugins.
* Added `kedro.logging.RichHandler`. This replaces the default `rich.logging.RichHandler` and is more flexible, user can turn off the `rich` traceback if needed.

Bug fixes and other changes
* `OmegaConfigLoader` will return a `dict` instead of `DictConfig`.
* `OmegaConfigLoader` does not show a `MissingConfigError` when the config files exist but are empty.

Documentation changes
* Added documentation for collaborative experiment tracking within Kedro-Viz.
* Revised section on deployment to better organise content and reflect how recently docs have been updated.
* Minor improvements to fix typos and revise docs to align with engineering changes.

Breaking changes to the API
* `kedro package` does not produce `.egg` files anymore, and now relies exclusively on `.whl` files.

Community contributions
Many thanks to the following Kedroids for contributing PRs to this release:

* [tomasvanpottelbergh](https://github.com/tomasvanpottelbergh)
* [https://github.com/debugger24](https://github.com/debugger24)