glymotif
A glycan motif matcher trading convenience wrappers for speed, strictness and explicit specs.
Comparison · Analytics
glyanno vs ribd
A side-by-side editorial comparison of glyanno and ribd — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-packages
glyanno vs ribd: at a glance
What is glyanno?
Glycan annotation stops depending on the database having seen the structure before.
glyanno resolves mass spectrometry observations into glycan compositions and structures, converting between m/z, composition and structure, filling in missing detail on partial structures, and mapping results to GlyTouCan accessions. The newest release adds de novo reconstruction of topological N-glycans, falling back to the topological database only when reconstruction is not possible. Batch performance was reworked at the same time, with vector inputs reusing prepared databases and direct lookups instead of repeating setup per element.
What is ribd?
The pedsuite's coefficient engine: broadening what it computes, then making the plots publishable.
ribd computes relatedness coefficients from pedigrees, covering kinship, inbreeding, kappa, condensed and detailed identity coefficients, and two-locus versions of several of these, in autosomal and X-chromosomal form. The IBD triangle is now drawable in base graphics, ggplot2 or plotly, with an optional inset pedigree, and custom relationships can be placed on it. The most recent release is dominated by correctness work, fixing pair ordering and row alignment in coefficient tables and edge cases for pedigree lists, unrelated individuals and self-pairs.
glyanno vs ribd: editorial side-by-side
glyanno
3.8ANALYTICS
Glycan annotation stops depending on the database having seen the structure before.
◆ Current state
glyanno resolves mass spectrometry observations into glycan compositions and structures, converting between m/z, composition and structure, filling in missing detail on partial structures, and mapping results to GlyTouCan accessions. The newest release adds de novo reconstruction of topological N-glycans, falling back to the topological database only when reconstruction is not possible. Batch performance was reworked at the same time, with vector inputs reusing prepared databases and direct lookups instead of repeating setup per element.
◆ Where it's heading
The consistent theme is making ambiguous results honest and predictable. return_best moved from returning a shortened tibble to a vector aligned with the input, with NA for unmatched glycans; matching concrete compositions against a generic database now errors instead of silently returning nothing; zero-length database arguments are rejected. Alongside that, functions belonging elsewhere have been pushed down into glyrepr rather than duplicated, which is the same boundary discipline visible across this cohort. Version churn is largely driven by upstream: two of the last six entries exist to absorb breaking changes in glyrepr.
◆ Prediction
De novo reconstruction currently covers topological N-glycans only, so extending it to other structure levels or to O-glycans is the natural next step. The performance work suggests batch annotation of full experiments is now the primary use being optimised for.
ribd
2.5ANALYTICS
The pedsuite's coefficient engine: broadening what it computes, then making the plots publishable.
◆ Current state
ribd computes relatedness coefficients from pedigrees, covering kinship, inbreeding, kappa, condensed and detailed identity coefficients, and two-locus versions of several of these, in autosomal and X-chromosomal form. The IBD triangle is now drawable in base graphics, ggplot2 or plotly, with an optional inset pedigree, and custom relationships can be placed on it. The most recent release is dominated by correctness work, fixing pair ordering and row alignment in coefficient tables and edge cases for pedigree lists, unrelated individuals and self-pairs.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc runs from generality to presentation to precision. Early releases replaced narrow functions with general ones, most visibly when gKinship() absorbed generalisedKinship() and identityCoefs() superseded the separate autosomal and X-chromosomal identity functions in favour of an Xchrom argument. The middle stretch turned the IBD triangle into a proper plotting surface across three graphics systems. The current phase reads as consolidation, with the newest release listing six bug fixes against four features, several of them alignment errors in output tables, which is where a coefficient library most needs to be exactly right.
◆ Prediction
The two new internal functions in the latest release, inbreedingContributions() and ancestralKinship(), are the kind of thing that surfaces publicly a release or two later, so expect them to become exported decomposition tools. The correctness push through pedigree lists and edge cases suggests the near-term focus stays on hardening rather than new coefficient families.
Alternatives to glyanno and ribd
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 glyanno or ribd.
glyrepr
The type system the rest of the glycan stack is built on, being hardened one breaking change at a time.
glydraw
SNFG glycan cartoons stopped being pictures and became ggplot2 geoms, guides and axis labels.
glyenzy
Glycan biosynthesis as a traceable enzyme graph, now including sulfation and gaps it can bridge.
KLINK
Forensic kinship testing with linked STR markers, now peer-reviewed and taking data from anywhere.
ibdsim2
A pedigree IBD simulator that absorbed its own web app and now optimises for dense marker panels.
See all glyanno alternatives → · See all ribd alternatives →
Recent activity from glyanno and ribd
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 12d agoribdCustom relationships on the IBD triangle; six alignment and edge-case fixes
- 24d agoglyannoDe novo reconstruction of topological N-glycans, with database fallback ⚡
- 3mo agoglyannoGlyTouCan accession mapping and anomeric position filling
- 3mo agoglyannoFixes an enhance_struc() break from glyrepr 0.11.0
- 4mo agoglyannoExplicit empty return from com_to_struc()
- 4mo agoglyannoreturn_best output aligns with input length; silent empty matches now error
- 5mo agoglyannoto_level parameter removed from enhance_struc()
- 1y agoribdkappaIBD() can skip across-component pairs on large pedigrees
- 2y agoribdIBD triangle plots gain ggplot2 and plotly backends, plus inset pedigrees
- 3y agoribdTriangle line clipping, automatic plot margins, citation info
- 3y agoribdTwo-locus functions overhauled; twoLocusInbreeding and ELR added
- 4y agoribdIdentity coefficients unified behind identityCoefs() and an Xchrom argument
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between glyanno and ribd?
Both compete on the same themes — r-packages — within Analytics. glyanno is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 3.8 vs 2.5), with 1 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 glyanno better than ribd?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. glyanno is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 3.8 vs 2.5), with 1 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 glyanno?
Top glyanno alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "glyanno alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/glyanno for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ribd?
Top ribd alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ribd alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ribd for the full list with editorial commentary on each.