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silx vs spanishoddata

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

silx vs spanishoddata: at a glance

Featuresilxspanishoddata
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score5.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesscientific-computing, data-visualization, synchrotron, qtmobility-data, origin-destination, duckdb, open-data
Last editorial update3h ago3d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

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 →

What is spanishoddata?

spanishoddata spent a year finding out its 2020-2021 data was quietly incomplete.

spanishoddata provides access to Spain's open mobility origin-destination datasets from the Ministry of Transport, converting them into DuckDB and parquet for analysis at scale. Nearly every release in this window is a data-fidelity fix rather than a feature: district-to-municipal reaggregation was wrong for the 2020-2021 vintage, literal 'NA' strings in the source CSVs broke DuckDB enum casting, and the Amazon S3 metadata bucket turned out to be truncated at March 2021, silently hiding data.

Read the full spanishoddata trajectory →

silx vs spanishoddata: editorial side-by-side

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.

S
spanishoddata
ANALYTICS
0.0

spanishoddata spent a year finding out its 2020-2021 data was quietly incomplete.

◆ Current state

spanishoddata provides access to Spain's open mobility origin-destination datasets from the Ministry of Transport, converting them into DuckDB and parquet for analysis at scale. Nearly every release in this window is a data-fidelity fix rather than a feature: district-to-municipal reaggregation was wrong for the 2020-2021 vintage, literal 'NA' strings in the source CSVs broke DuckDB enum casting, and the Amazon S3 metadata bucket turned out to be truncated at March 2021, silently hiding data.

◆ Where it's heading

The package is in a trust-building phase. The pattern across 0.2.1 through 0.2.6 is the maintainers repeatedly discovering that upstream metadata and the package's own aggregation were misrepresenting what data existed, then fixing it and adding a check so it surfaces next time. That is now backed by infrastructure: comprehensive unit tests plus weekly live-data runs on GitHub workers that alert maintainers when the upstream ministry changes something. The last feature release sits outside the six-entry window, which is itself the story.

◆ Prediction

Expect continued upstream-tracking fixes as the ministry's API and S3 layout shift, with the experimental quick-access and checksum functions the most likely candidates for promotion to stable.

Alternatives to silx and spanishoddata

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 silx or spanishoddata.

See all silx alternatives → · See all spanishoddata alternatives →

Recent activity from silx and spanishoddata

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. 2mo agospanishoddataRedirected district files identified in v1 metadata
  4. 2mo agospanishoddataS3 metadata truncation at March 2021 bypassed via XML feed
  5. 3mo agosilx3.0.1: silx view fails to disable HDF5 file locking
  6. 3mo agosilx3.0.0: PySide6 becomes the default Qt binding, Python 3.10 required
  7. 3mo agosilx3.0.0rc1: release candidate for the PySide6 migration
  8. 4mo agospanishoddataLiteral NA strings no longer break DuckDB casting
  9. 4mo agospanishoddataLarge urban area zones can be reloaded again
  10. 5mo agospanishoddatatime_slot column removed; test coverage goes live-weekly
  11. 1y agospanishoddataDistrict-to-municipal reaggregation corrected for 2020-2021
  12. 1y agosilx2.2.2: plot axes limits, OpenGL axes and libhdf5 1.14 fixes

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between silx and spanishoddata?

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 silx better than spanishoddata?

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 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.

What are the best alternatives to spanishoddata?

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