← Back to home
Comparison · Analytics

ecodive vs silx

A side-by-side editorial comparison of ecodive and silx — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

ecodive vs silx: at a glance

Featureecodivesilx
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.05.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesmicrobiome, ecology, diversity-metrics, unifracscientific-computing, data-visualization, synchrotron, qt
Last editorial update1d ago4h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

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.

Read the full ecodive trajectory →

What is silx?

silx settles into maintenance a release after its PySide6 migration

silx is in the quiet phase after a generational release. 3.1.1 is a single fix to FitWidget loading a fit function from file. The release before it, 3.1.0, was the first real feature work since the migration - asinh axis scaling, twilight colormaps, and dark-theme icons - and 3.0.1 was similarly small. The 3.0.0 cut that reset the Qt binding and Python floor still defines what the line is doing.

Read the full silx trajectory →

ecodive vs silx: editorial side-by-side

E
ecodive
ANALYTICS
0.0

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 After 2.0.0 reoriented input and removed the weighted parameter, 2.1.0 superseded rescale with norm, and 2.2.6 changed norm's default from percent to none and removed it from some beta functions entirely.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.

S
silx
ANALYTICS
5.0

silx settles into maintenance a release after its PySide6 migration

◆ Current state

silx is in the quiet phase after a generational release. 3.1.1 is a single fix to FitWidget loading a fit function from file. The release before it, 3.1.0, was the first real feature work since the migration - asinh axis scaling, twilight colormaps, and dark-theme icons - and 3.0.1 was similarly small. The 3.0.0 cut that reset the Qt binding and Python floor still defines what the line is doing.

◆ Where it's heading

The cadence has slowed markedly since April, and the content has shifted from structural change to plotting and colormap refinement. That is the expected shape after a binding migration: downstream beamline code needs a stable target, so the project trades feature velocity for a quiet surface. The gap between 3.0.1 in May and 3.1.0 in August is the clearest signal of the deliberate slowdown.

◆ Prediction

Expect further point releases servicing the plotting and fitting widgets rather than another structural change, with feature work continuing to arrive in the 3.1.x minors rather than patches.

Alternatives to ecodive and silx

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 silx.

See all ecodive alternatives → · See all silx alternatives →

Recent activity from ecodive and silx

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 7h agosilxFitWidget fix for loading a fit function from file
  2. 9d agosilx3.1.0: asinh axis scaling, twilight colormaps, dark-theme icons
  3. 3mo agosilx3.0.1: silx view fails to disable HDF5 file locking
  4. 3mo agosilx3.0.0: PySide6 becomes the default Qt binding, Python 3.10 required
  5. 3mo agosilx3.0.0rc1: release candidate for the PySide6 migration
  6. 4mo agoecodiveNormalisation now defaults to none, with CLR zero warnings
  7. 7mo agoecodiveecodive 2.2.2
  8. 10mo agoecodiverescale superseded by norm; crash fixes after the 2.0.0 rewrite
  9. 11mo agoecodive2.0.0 expands to ~14 alpha and ~30 beta diversity metrics
  10. 1y agosilx2.2.2: plot axes limits, OpenGL axes and libhdf5 1.14 fixes

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ecodive and silx?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. silx is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is ecodive better than silx?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. silx is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. 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 silx?

Top silx alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "silx alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/silx for the full list with editorial commentary on each.