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Comparison · Analytics
ecodive vs mmconvert
A side-by-side editorial comparison of ecodive and mmconvert — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
ecodive vs mmconvert: at a glance
What is ecodive?
ecodive rebuilt itself into a broad diversity-metric library, breaking as it went
ecodive computes alpha and beta diversity metrics for ecological and microbiome count data, including phylogenetic measures like Faith's PD and the UniFrac family. The 2.0.0 rewrite expanded it from a handful of metrics to roughly fourteen alpha and thirty beta measures while flipping the expected input orientation to samples-as-rows. Subsequent releases have been spent settling the normalisation interface that expansion exposed.
What is mmconvert?
A single-purpose mouse map interpolator that solved its problem in 2023 and has coasted since
mmconvert does one thing: interpolate between GRCm39 physical positions and the revised Cox genetic map for mouse MUGA array markers. The substantive work all landed in a burst across 2021-2023 — the initial function, the GRCm39 annotation dataset, cross2_to_grcm39(), the recomputed Cox maps and their smoothed replacement. Everything since is upkeep: a warning-message fix in 0.12, and 0.14 is a test adjustment to silence a CRAN Note with no code change at all.
ecodive vs mmconvert: editorial side-by-side
ecodive
0.0ANALYTICS
ecodive rebuilt itself into a broad diversity-metric library, breaking as it went
◆ Current state
ecodive computes alpha and beta diversity metrics for ecological and microbiome count data, including phylogenetic measures like Faith's PD and the UniFrac family. The 2.0.0 rewrite expanded it from a handful of metrics to roughly fourteen alpha and thirty beta measures while flipping the expected input orientation to samples-as-rows. Subsequent releases have been spent settling the normalisation interface that expansion exposed.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a package that made its breaking changes deliberately and in a cluster. After 2.0.0 reoriented input and removed the weighted parameter, 2.1.0 superseded rescale with norm, and 2.2.6 changed norm's default from percent to none and removed it from some beta functions entirely. That last one matters more than it reads: normalisation defaults silently change the numbers a metric returns, and the direction is toward making the user state their choice rather than inheriting one.
◆ Prediction
With the metric surface broad and the normalisation interface now explicit, expect the next releases to stabilise — documentation and edge-case handling around CLR and rarefaction rather than another interface break.
mmconvert
0.0ANALYTICS
A single-purpose mouse map interpolator that solved its problem in 2023 and has coasted since
◆ Current state
mmconvert does one thing: interpolate between GRCm39 physical positions and the revised Cox genetic map for mouse MUGA array markers. The substantive work all landed in a burst across 2021-2023 — the initial function, the GRCm39 annotation dataset, cross2_to_grcm39(), the recomputed Cox maps and their smoothed replacement. Everything since is upkeep: a warning-message fix in 0.12, and 0.14 is a test adjustment to silence a CRAN Note with no code change at all.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has reached the natural end state of a reference-data converter — the reference data stopped moving, so the package stopped moving. Releases now arrive roughly annually and exist to keep CRAN checks green. The 0.14 release shipped the same day as sibling qtl2convert 0.36, confirming these are batch maintenance passes across the maintainer's packages rather than independent development.
◆ Prediction
Without a new mouse genome build or a revised Cox map, the next release is likely another CRAN-check accommodation rather than new functionality.
Alternatives to ecodive and mmconvert
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either ecodive or mmconvert.
gcube
gcube's recent releases are all packaging metadata, not simulation code
cubist
The R port of Quinlan's Cubist gets reproducibility fixes, not new modelling
ggstats
ggstats keeps widening what a coefficient or Likert plot can be
simStateSpace
State-space data simulation for R, filled in one function at a time
rollama
rollama turns a local-LLM wrapper into an instrument for reproducible annotation
See all ecodive alternatives → · See all mmconvert alternatives →
Recent activity from ecodive and mmconvert
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agommconvertTest adjustment to clear a CRAN Note
- 4mo agoecodiveNormalisation now defaults to none, with CLR zero warnings
- 7mo agoecodiveecodive 2.2.2
- 10mo agoecodiverescale superseded by norm; crash fixes after the 2.0.0 rewrite
- 10mo agoecodive2.0.0 expands to ~14 alpha and ~30 beta diversity metrics ⚡
- 1y agommconvertFixes a malformed warning message in mmconvert()
- 3y agommconvertOmits X chromosome positions for sex-averaged and male maps
- 3y agommconvertCRAN release adds chromosome lengths and smoothed Cox maps
- 3y agommconvertRecomputed Cox genetic maps and combined-array support
- 4y agommconvertRepoints data sources from master to main branches
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ecodive and mmconvert?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. ecodive and mmconvert are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is ecodive better than mmconvert?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ecodive and mmconvert are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to ecodive?
Top ecodive alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ecodive alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ecodive for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to mmconvert?
Top mmconvert alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "mmconvert alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mmconvert for the full list with editorial commentary on each.