qqman
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
Comparison · Analytics
arulesViz vs fossilsim
A side-by-side editorial comparison of arulesViz and fossilsim — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
arulesViz vs fossilsim: at a glance
What is arulesViz?
arulesViz finished its move to ggplot2 and has been coasting on maintenance since.
arulesViz draws the association rules produced by arules — scatterplots, matrix and grouped-matrix views, rule graphs, and a Shiny explorer. The rendering foundation has been settled since 1.5.0 made ggplot2 the default engine for most plots. The two most recent releases contain no new capability: roxygen migration and deprecation catch-up in 1.5.3, and a partial-argument-match cleanup in 1.5.4 that landed the same week as the identical fix in sibling package seriation.
What is fossilsim?
A fossil-record simulator that quietly grew a trait-evolution engine.
FossilSim is a mature R package for simulating fossil records on phylogenetic trees, and its release cadence reflects that: long gaps punctuated by a single capability addition. The last four releases span three years, with the most recent being a compatibility sync to its companion Shiny front-end rather than new functionality. The core simulation surface has been stable since 2022.
arulesViz vs fossilsim: editorial side-by-side
arulesViz
0.0ANALYTICS
arulesViz finished its move to ggplot2 and has been coasting on maintenance since.
◆ Current state
arulesViz draws the association rules produced by arules — scatterplots, matrix and grouped-matrix views, rule graphs, and a Shiny explorer. The rendering foundation has been settled since 1.5.0 made ggplot2 the default engine for most plots. The two most recent releases contain no new capability: roxygen migration and deprecation catch-up in 1.5.3, and a partial-argument-match cleanup in 1.5.4 that landed the same week as the identical fix in sibling package seriation.
◆ Where it's heading
The 2021 releases were a deliberate consolidation. 1.4-0 added ggplot2 engines and cut plotly_arules and the experimental iplots support out of the interface; 1.5.0 promoted ggplot2 to default and exposed the conversions to igraph and matrix so users could build their own views; 1.5-1 filled gaps in the graph and grouped-matrix methods. Since then the package tracks its dependencies rather than extending itself, which is a reasonable end state for a mature visualization layer.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued reactive releases keyed to ggplot2 and igraph deprecations, which have driven two of the last three updates. Nothing in these entries suggests new plot methods are planned.
fossilsim
0.0ANALYTICS
A fossil-record simulator that quietly grew a trait-evolution engine.
◆ Current state
FossilSim is a mature R package for simulating fossil records on phylogenetic trees, and its release cadence reflects that: long gaps punctuated by a single capability addition. The last four releases span three years, with the most recent being a compatibility sync to its companion Shiny front-end rather than new functionality. The core simulation surface has been stable since 2022.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc runs from sampling mechanics toward simulating what the organisms actually were. Version 2.2.0 taught the package to handle occurrence data for occurrence birth-death models; 2.3.0 then added trait simulation under Mk, BM and OU, which is a different kind of output than fossil ages. Since then the work has been maintenance and keeping the FossilSimShiny GUI in step, suggesting the authors consider the current model set feature-complete.
◆ Prediction
The pairing of the 2.3.3 release with a FossilSimShiny version bump points to the GUI, not the library, as where the next visible work lands. The entries do not show enough activity to predict a specific new model family.
Alternatives to arulesViz and fossilsim
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 arulesViz or fossilsim.
constants
The R package for CODATA constants rebuilt its symbol table on NIST's naming so future updates stop being hand work.
austraits
The R client for AusTraits spends its releases chasing the dataset it reads.
ggdemetra
A ggplot2 layer for seasonal adjustment output, filling in one plot type at a time.
tern.rbmi
Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.
tern.mmrm
An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.
See all arulesViz alternatives → · See all fossilsim alternatives →
Recent activity from arulesViz and fossilsim
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 11mo agoarulesVizarulesViz 1.5.4: partial argument matches, translucent NA color
- 2y agofossilsimCompatibility bump for FossilSimShiny 1.1.2
- 2y agoarulesVizarulesViz 1.5.3 moves docs to roxygen, updates deprecated calls
- 4y agofossilsimBug fixes and documentation cleanup
- 4y agofossilsimTrait simulation arrives: Mk, BM and OU models ⚡
- 4y agoarulesVizarulesViz 1.5-1 extends graph and grouped-matrix plots
- 5y agoarulesVizarulesViz 1.5.0 makes ggplot2 the default plotting engine
- 5y agofossilsimOccurrence handling for the occurrence birth-death model
- 5y agoarulesVizarulesViz 1.4-0 adds ggplot2 engines, drops plotly_arules and iplots
- 7y agoarulesVizarulesViz 1.3-3 cleans up the ruleExplorer interface
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between arulesViz and fossilsim?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. arulesViz and fossilsim 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 arulesViz better than fossilsim?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. arulesViz and fossilsim 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 arulesViz?
Top arulesViz alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "arulesViz alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/arulesviz-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to fossilsim?
Top fossilsim alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fossilsim alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fossilsim-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.