TAF
TAF keeps turning ICES stock assessments into reproducible, dependency-pinned projects.
Comparison · Analytics
n2khab vs SimInf
A side-by-side editorial comparison of n2khab and SimInf — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
n2khab vs SimInf: at a glance
What is n2khab?
n2khab keeps retracting interpretations of habitat data it can't actually support
n2khab reads and prepares the standardised Flemish Natura 2000 habitat data sources — habitat maps, water surfaces, GRTS master grids — for reproducible analysis. Releases track the publication of new versioned data sources on Zenodo, but the more consequential ones change how the package interprets what it reads. The latest removes an argument outright after the reasoning behind it was found to be wrong.
What is SimInf?
SimInf 10.0 turns an epidemic simulator into a tool that fits models to real time series
SimInf simulates stochastic disease spread over networks of nodes, with a model parser that compiles user-specified transitions to C. Version 10.0.0 was a deliberate major break: the SimInf_pfilter S4 class and the bootstrap filtering interface were redesigned, a replicates slot was added to SimInf_model, a multi-particle variant of the split-step solver arrived, and the package gained Particle Markov Chain Monte Carlo fitting against observed time series. The follow-up 10.1.0 is a single zero-length memcpy fix found by CRAN's M1 checks.
n2khab vs SimInf: editorial side-by-side
n2khab
0.0ANALYTICS
n2khab keeps retracting interpretations of habitat data it can't actually support
◆ Current state
n2khab reads and prepares the standardised Flemish Natura 2000 habitat data sources — habitat maps, water surfaces, GRTS master grids — for reproducible analysis. Releases track the publication of new versioned data sources on Zenodo, but the more consequential ones change how the package interprets what it reads. The latest removes an argument outright after the reasoning behind it was found to be wrong.
◆ Where it's heading
Two forces shape the package. The first is external: each new habitatmap or watersurfaces vintage needs a supported reader, and the package has absorbed a steady stream of them. The second is a willingness to break its own API when the ecology does not support what the code claimed — the interpreted argument removed because type 3130 occurrences cannot be resolved to a single subtype, the rbbvos+ type dropped as too loosely defined, the collapse default changed to match how users actually need the output shaped. Return structures are also being normalised so element names no longer vary with data source version.
◆ Prediction
The package has said it expects future watersurfaces_hab versions to implement collapsing in the data source itself, so the corresponding argument is a candidate for removal once that lands — the same path the interpreted argument took.
SimInf
0.0ANALYTICS
SimInf 10.0 turns an epidemic simulator into a tool that fits models to real time series
◆ Current state
SimInf simulates stochastic disease spread over networks of nodes, with a model parser that compiles user-specified transitions to C. Version 10.0.0 was a deliberate major break: the SimInf_pfilter S4 class and the bootstrap filtering interface were redesigned, a replicates slot was added to SimInf_model, a multi-particle variant of the split-step solver arrived, and the package gained Particle Markov Chain Monte Carlo fitting against observed time series. The follow-up 10.1.0 is a single zero-length memcpy fix found by CRAN's M1 checks.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has been moving from simulation toward inference for several releases. The 9.x line built the input side — utilities for cleaning raw individual event data, variables and enumeration constants in the model parser — and 10.0.0 closed the loop by making the simulator fittable to data through PMCMC. The version number was incremented precisely because that required breaking the particle filter interface.
◆ Prediction
Fitting machinery this new usually needs a second pass on usability, so the next releases most likely focus on diagnostics and documentation around PMCMC rather than on the simulation core, which has been stable across the whole 9.x and 10.x history.
Alternatives to n2khab and SimInf
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 n2khab or SimInf.
parallelDist
parallelDist is in pure preservation mode — one build fix every few years.
cairo
Cairo finally catches R's graphics engine, all the way to GE API 16.
rjdqa
rjdqa keeps refining one screen: the seasonal adjustment quality dashboard
epikit
epikit narrows to field-epidemiology helpers, handing proportions to a sibling package
mutagen
A young package porting Stata's egen row-wise helpers to the tidyverse, one function per release
See all n2khab alternatives → · See all SimInf alternatives →
Recent activity from n2khab and SimInf
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agon2khabn2khab 0.15.1
- 1mo agon2khabn2khab drops an argument built on a wrong ecological assumption
- 5mo agon2khabn2khab adds a reader for the watersurfaces reference points source
- 7mo agon2khabn2khab collapses watersurfaces output to unique polygon-type pairs
- 9mo agoSimInfAvoid memcpy on zero-length continuous state vector
- 9mo agoSimInfPMCMC fitting arrives; particle filter interface redesigned ⚡
- 1y agon2khabSupport for watersurfaces 2024 and watersurfaces_hab v6
- 1y agon2khabn2khab supports the 2023 habitat maps and drops the rbbvos+ type
- 2y agoSimInfDocumentation link anchors; parser dependency fix
- 2y agoSimInfModel parser gains variables and enumeration constants
- 2y agoSimInfindividual_events() added for raw event data cleaning
- 3y agoSimInfConfigure script uses R to locate the compiler
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between n2khab and SimInf?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. n2khab and SimInf 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 n2khab better than SimInf?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. n2khab and SimInf 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 n2khab?
Top n2khab alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "n2khab alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/n2khab for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to SimInf?
Top SimInf alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "SimInf alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/siminf-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.