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haze vs silx

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

haze vs silx: at a glance

Featurehazesilx
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score2.55.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesneuroimaging, mesh-processing, interpolation, r-packagescientific-computing, data-visualization, synchrotron, qt
Last editorial update1d ago3h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is haze?

Four dormant years end with a modernization pass and an off-by-one fix in the C++ core

haze does nearest-neighbour smoothing and k-d tree interpolation on brain surface meshes. It sat untouched from April 2022 until July 2026, when a single release modernized it for current R versions and corrected an off-by-one error in the C++ code. It is not on CRAN and never will be — the package exceeds 50MB against CRAN's 5MB ceiling, a constraint its own initial release notes acknowledge.

Read the full haze 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 →

haze vs silx: editorial side-by-side

H
haze
ANALYTICS
2.5

Four dormant years end with a modernization pass and an off-by-one fix in the C++ core

◆ Current state

haze does nearest-neighbour smoothing and k-d tree interpolation on brain surface meshes. It sat untouched from April 2022 until July 2026, when a single release modernized it for current R versions and corrected an off-by-one error in the C++ code. It is not on CRAN and never will be — the package exceeds 50MB against CRAN's 5MB ceiling, a constraint its own initial release notes acknowledge.

◆ Where it's heading

The July 2026 release arrived 56 minutes after its sibling regfusionr 0.3.0 from the same maintainer, which is the tell: this is a maintainer sweeping a set of related neuroimaging packages back into working order, not independent development on haze itself. haze is the dependency, regfusionr the consumer, and the substantive work sits on the regfusionr side. The off-by-one correction is the only change here that alters results.

◆ Prediction

Expect haze to move only when a downstream dfsp-spirit package needs it to — its cadence is driven by the sibling packages, not by its own roadmap.

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 haze 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 haze or silx.

See all haze alternatives → · See all silx alternatives →

Recent activity from haze and silx

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

  1. 6h agosilxFitWidget fix for loading a fit function from file
  2. 9d agosilx3.1.0: asinh axis scaling, twilight colormaps, dark-theme icons
  3. 20d agohazeVersion 0.3.0 -- Fixes and modernization
  4. 3mo agosilx3.0.1: silx view fails to disable HDF5 file locking
  5. 3mo agosilx3.0.0: PySide6 becomes the default Qt binding, Python 3.10 required
  6. 3mo agosilx3.0.0rc1: release candidate for the PySide6 migration
  7. 1y agosilx2.2.2: plot axes limits, OpenGL axes and libhdf5 1.14 fixes
  8. 4y agohazev0.2.0 -- kdtrees
  9. 4y agohazev0.1.0: Initial release

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between haze and silx?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. silx is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), 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 haze 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 2.5), 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 haze?

Top haze alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "haze alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/haze 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.