pr2database
The protist reference database keeps widening past the rRNA gene it was built on.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
BAS vs ggsketch
A side-by-side editorial comparison of BAS and ggsketch — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
BAS vs ggsketch: at a glance
What is BAS?
A Bayesian model-averaging package spending its 2.0 on memory, not methods.
BAS performs Bayesian variable selection and model averaging for linear and generalized linear models, sampling from a model space too large to enumerate. The visible history splits cleanly: 2023-2024 added sampling machinery — an adaptive independent MCMC sampler with Horvitz-Thompson estimation, hereditary-constraint counting — while 2.0.0 in late 2025 reworked how sampler output is allocated in C. The 2.0.2 patch is a PROTECT fix for rchk warnings.
What is ggsketch?
ggsketch stopped being a line style and became a drawing-medium simulator.
ggsketch is a ggplot2 extension that renders plots as if drawn by hand. Through the 1.x line that meant one thing: roughening outlines and fills with configurable jitter. The 2.0.0 release published in July reframes the package around simulated drawing media — pen, chisel-tip highlighter, airbrush — and simulated paper grounds, with the sketch geoms inheriting whichever medium is set.
BAS vs ggsketch: editorial side-by-side
BAS
0.0INFRA · APIS
A Bayesian model-averaging package spending its 2.0 on memory, not methods.
◆ Current state
BAS performs Bayesian variable selection and model averaging for linear and generalized linear models, sampling from a model space too large to enumerate. The visible history splits cleanly: 2023-2024 added sampling machinery — an adaptive independent MCMC sampler with Horvitz-Thompson estimation, hereditary-constraint counting — while 2.0.0 in late 2025 reworked how sampler output is allocated in C. The 2.0.2 patch is a PROTECT fix for rchk warnings.
◆ Where it's heading
Memory is the binding constraint and the releases say so directly. The hereditary-constraint counter, the GROW option, and the replacement of over-allocation with resizing all attack the same problem: n.models is a guess, and guessing high wastes memory on problems where few unique models are actually visited. The 2.0.0 work was additionally forced by R tightening its C API against non-API calls like SETLENGTH, a constraint every C-heavy CRAN package has been absorbing. Method development has been quiet since 1.7.x.
◆ Prediction
The 1.7.5 notes call the hereditary-constraint counting a first step and say future updates will cover other constraint types, including polynomials, which remain unhandled. That is the one concrete commitment in this history, though nothing since has returned to it.
ggsketch
0.0INFRA · APIS
ggsketch stopped being a line style and became a drawing-medium simulator.
◆ Current state
ggsketch is a ggplot2 extension that renders plots as if drawn by hand. Through the 1.x line that meant one thing: roughening outlines and fills with configurable jitter. The 2.0.0 release published in July reframes the package around simulated drawing media — pen, chisel-tip highlighter, airbrush — and simulated paper grounds, with the sketch geoms inheriting whichever medium is set.
◆ Where it's heading
The maintainer states 2.0.0 is the engine for a series, and the release notes read that way: the medium sampler and the paper renderer are new Layer-1/Layer-2 primitives that every existing geom picks up for free. The second thread is correctness under real plot layouts — corner-aware label repulsion, boundary densification so bars bend under polar coordinates, reserved panel room so edge labels stop clipping. Geom coverage keeps widening in parallel, with chicklet charts the newest addition.
◆ Prediction
Expect the rest of the 2.x series to add media on top of the new sampler rather than more geoms, since that is where 2.0.0 put the extensibility. The default hachure-pitch change already shifts existing output slightly, so a follow-up patch tuning those defaults against real plots is likely.
Alternatives to BAS and ggsketch
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 BAS or ggsketch.
ggalign
Composable aligned layouts, rebuilt on S7 while ggplot2 4.0 lands underneath.
prioritizr
Conservation planning absorbs the literature's target-setting rules as code.
jSDM
Joint species distribution models in Gibbs-sampled C++, quiet since 2023.
rsofun
An ecosystem model starts tracking carbon isotopes and land-use change.
usmap
Ten years in, US mapping splits its data out and finally adds Puerto Rico.
See all BAS alternatives → · See all ggsketch alternatives →
Recent activity from BAS and ggsketch
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agoggsketchSpray, highlighter and paper grounds turn plots into drawings ⚡
- 1mo agoggsketchRoughness becomes a mappable aesthetic; fills get their own seed
- 2mo agoggsketchRough theme frame, sketch colour scales and scribble fill
- 8mo agoBASBAS 2.0.2
- 8mo agoBASBAS 2.0.0
- 1y agoBASBAS 1.7.5
- 1y agoBASBAS 1.7.3
- 1y agoBASBAS 1.7.2
- 2y agoBASBAS 1.7.1
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between BAS and ggsketch?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. BAS and ggsketch 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 BAS better than ggsketch?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. BAS and ggsketch 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 BAS?
Top BAS alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "BAS alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/bas for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ggsketch?
Top ggsketch alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ggsketch alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ggsketch for the full list with editorial commentary on each.