Redis v7.0 has been released as the first release candidate (RC1), marking a significant milestone in the project's development. This major release introduces new features such as Functions, ACL v2, sharded Pub/Sub, and more, while also focusing on improving and optimizing existing parts of Redis. The new version aims to deliver more raw power at better resource utilization, making it faster, more stable, and more economical. Redis Functions are a key addition, allowing for the execution of user logic on the server-side, providing an effective way to compose server-side workflows from core Redis operations and control structures. This feature enables the decoupling of application code from function implementation, promoting reusability, maintainability, and scalability.