title: Difference between Thrift and CQL 3 Columns/Rows
body: <p>At the Cassandra Summit, it was mentioned that Thrift and CQL 3 have subtle differences in their definitions of columns and rows.  The Google hasn't helped me understand this difference.  The only information I can find is that the metadata is different, and as such, I shouldn't mix thrift and CQL.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>What is the subtle difference (I've read a bit about metadata representations...)?</li>
  <li>in what way does it break the compatibility?</li>
  <li>Why is the change better?</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>I'm happy to read any docs that will help me, I've just been unable to find anything specifically related to this topic.</p>