incident.io
Nexus does the diagnosis; the agent is now reaching into the status page too.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
hicp vs nmfspalette
A side-by-side editorial comparison of hicp and nmfspalette — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
hicp vs nmfspalette: at a glance
What is hicp?
Eurostat's inflation package moved its whole taxonomy to ECOICOP 2 and broke the old one on purpose.
hicp downloads and computes the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, and it is maintained inside Eurostat rather than around it. Version 1.1.0 switches the package default to ECOICOP version 2 for HICP, converts the spec.aggs and countries datasets into functions that answer per COICOP version, and drops the bundle-code machinery that only the older classification needs.
What is nmfspalette?
A NOAA Fisheries colour palette that ships when the branding guide changes
nmfspalette supplies the NOAA Fisheries colour palette as an R package, for figures that have to follow agency branding. Its five releases track the branding guide rather than any software need: a first version in 2020, a breaking switch to CSS-compatible colour names in 2021, an update to the 2022 branding colours applied in July 2023, and a 2024 release whose stated purpose is to mint a DOI. There is no functionality here beyond supplying colours.
hicp vs nmfspalette: editorial side-by-side
hicp
0.0INFRA · APIS
Eurostat's inflation package moved its whole taxonomy to ECOICOP 2 and broke the old one on purpose.
◆ Current state
hicp downloads and computes the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, and it is maintained inside Eurostat rather than around it. Version 1.1.0 switches the package default to ECOICOP version 2 for HICP, converts the spec.aggs and countries datasets into functions that answer per COICOP version, and drops the bundle-code machinery that only the older classification needs.
◆ Where it's heading
Two breaking releases in seven months, each clearing a different kind of debt. 1.0.0 settled the API: consistent download-function names, aggregation split into tree-following and user-defined halves, a settings object threaded through everything. 1.1.0 then spent that stability on the classification migration. Datasets keep turning into functions, which is the tell that the package expects to serve several COICOP versions at once rather than one at a time.
◆ Prediction
The ecoicop1 compatibility path is defined but no longer the default, so the next question is how long it stays. Expect further helpers in the is.* family and continued movement of static data behind version-aware functions.
nmfspalette
0.0INFRA · APIS
A NOAA Fisheries colour palette that ships when the branding guide changes
◆ Current state
nmfspalette supplies the NOAA Fisheries colour palette as an R package, for figures that have to follow agency branding. Its five releases track the branding guide rather than any software need: a first version in 2020, a breaking switch to CSS-compatible colour names in 2021, an update to the 2022 branding colours applied in July 2023, and a 2024 release whose stated purpose is to mint a DOI. There is no functionality here beyond supplying colours.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a package whose release schedule is set outside the project — it changes when NOAA publishes new branding, and the 2022 guide took until 2023 to land here. The one release with real user impact was the 2021 breaking change, which replaced the branding guide's colour names with CSS-compatible ones and would have broken any code naming a colour directly. The DOI release indicates the maintainer expects it to be cited in publications, which is the natural end state for an agency-standard palette.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release when NOAA Fisheries revises its branding guide again; on the 2022-to-2023 precedent, it will follow the guide by several months.
Alternatives to hicp and nmfspalette
Other Infra & APIs 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 hicp or nmfspalette.
Warp
Warp turned its quarter of software-factory essays into infrastructure you can buy.
Okta
Okta's developer blog is a Cross App Access campaign, now diluted by advocacy-team storytelling.
tealeaves
A leaf-temperature model that finished its job in 2020 and has stayed finished
Infisical
A credential platform assembled two or three pull requests at a time, never a headline
SigNoz
Search without knowing the field — SigNoz keeps lowering the cost of not knowing your schema
See all hicp alternatives → · See all nmfspalette alternatives →
Recent activity from hicp and nmfspalette
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 6mo agohicpDefault classification moves to ECOICOP 2, retiring bundle codes ⚡
- 6mo agohicpDownload functions accept all defaults via dots
- 1y agohicp1.0 splits aggregation into tree-following and user-defined halves ⚡
- 2y agohicpVignette build fix for one CRAN check flavour
- 2y agohicpGlobal options and a settings argument make COICOP version selectable
- 2y agonmfspaletteMinor updates and DOI
- 2y agohicpElementary index weight checks and chain() NA handling fixed
- 2y agonmfspaletteUpdate to new 2022 colors
- 5y agonmfspaletteRelease with CSS compatible names
- 5y agonmfspaletteRelease update to work with r-cmd-check
- 5y agonmfspaletteThe first release of nmfspalette
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between hicp and nmfspalette?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. hicp and nmfspalette 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 hicp better than nmfspalette?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. hicp and nmfspalette 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to hicp?
Top hicp alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "hicp alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hicp for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to nmfspalette?
Top nmfspalette alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "nmfspalette alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/nmfspalette for the full list with editorial commentary on each.