trackeR
Fitness-tracking analysis in slow maintenance, still absorbing upstream breakage.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
BAS vs selection.index
A side-by-side editorial comparison of BAS and selection.index — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
BAS vs selection.index: 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 selection.index?
A dormant plant-breeding package returns as a genomic selection index suite
selection.index computes selection indices for plant breeding — weighting several traits into one number breeders can rank on. After two years of silence it shipped 2.0.0 in March 2026, and the package is barely recognisable: snake_case throughout, an Rcpp and RcppEigen computational core, and index families for genomic data, marker data, multi-stage trials and constrained genetic gain sitting beside the original phenotypic ones.
BAS vs selection.index: 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.
selection.index
0.0INFRA · APIS
A dormant plant-breeding package returns as a genomic selection index suite
◆ Current state
selection.index computes selection indices for plant breeding — weighting several traits into one number breeders can rank on. After two years of silence it shipped 2.0.0 in March 2026, and the package is barely recognisable: snake_case throughout, an Rcpp and RcppEigen computational core, and index families for genomic data, marker data, multi-stage trials and constrained genetic gain sitting beside the original phenotypic ones.
◆ Where it's heading
The first version series added one function at a time — combinatorial indices, then genetic advance, then mean performance under randomised block designs — against a fixed phenotypic framing. Version 2.0.0 abandons that framing rather than extending it. Genomic and marker information become inputs the package understands, multi-cycle simulation becomes a built-in toolset, and the old combinatorial entry points are replaced by a named lpsi(). The 2.0.1 follow-up is entirely CI and numerical-stability work, which reads like a maintainer bracing a much larger surface.
◆ Prediction
A seventeen-runner CI matrix mirroring every CRAN check flavour, added days after 2.0.0, says the immediate concern is keeping a compiled multi-family package green rather than adding to it. Expect stabilisation releases before anything new.
Alternatives to BAS and selection.index
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 selection.index.
states
State-panel tooling holding steady since its 2020 data and ergonomics release.
multimark
Five years of compiler and CRAN fixes on a capture-recapture package.
metagroup
A first release that turns meta-analytic heterogeneity into interpretable subgroups.
vcmeta
A meta-analysis toolkit still renaming its own API as it adds effect sizes.
JointFPM
Recurrent-event modelling settles, with mean_no() promoted to stable.
See all BAS alternatives → · See all selection.index alternatives →
Recent activity from BAS and selection.index
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5mo agoselection.indexCI expanded to 17 runners after the 2.0.0 rewrite
- 5mo agoselection.indexGenomic, marker and multi-stage selection indices on an Rcpp core ⚡
- 6mo agoselection.indexUnspecified general performance improvements
- 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
- 2y agoselection.indexMean performance for randomised block designs
- 3y agoselection.indexsel.index() and sel.score.rank() removed for comb.indices()
- 4y agoselection.indexGenetic advance calculation added
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between BAS and selection.index?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. BAS and selection.index 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 selection.index?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. BAS and selection.index 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 selection.index?
Top selection.index alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "selection.index alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/selection-index for the full list with editorial commentary on each.