OpenHouse
OpenHouse starts adding per-column defaults while still closing silent-failure holes.
Comparison · Analytics
broom.helpers vs Distributions.jl
A side-by-side editorial comparison of broom.helpers and Distributions.jl — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
broom.helpers vs Distributions.jl: at a glance
What is broom.helpers?
After eleven quiet months, the tidier under gtsummary is back to absorbing model classes.
broom.helpers standardises the output of regression models so downstream packages can render them, and its release notes read as a running list of newly supported model classes. Version 1.23.0 ends an eleven-month silence — the longest gap in the visible history — with support for multi-state Cox models through an experimental tidy_coxphms(), plus a coefficient-type helper for brmsfit. The selector-removal arc that ran from 1.17.0 through 1.22.0 is finished, leaving the package narrowed to pure translation work.
What is Distributions.jl?
Julia's distribution library keeps filing down the edges where sampling meets array types
Distributions.jl ships small, frequent releases against a large and settled API surface. The newest release accepts any AbstractVecOrMat when sampling from an MvNormal, closing a reported case where rand! ran much slower for an AbstractMatrix than for a plain Matrix. Around it sits the usual mix of per-distribution correctness fixes, fitting support such as sufficient statistics and MLE for Chi and Chisq, and dependency pruning.
broom.helpers vs Distributions.jl: editorial side-by-side
broom.helpers
2.5ANALYTICS
After eleven quiet months, the tidier under gtsummary is back to absorbing model classes.
◆ Current state
broom.helpers standardises the output of regression models so downstream packages can render them, and its release notes read as a running list of newly supported model classes. Version 1.23.0 ends an eleven-month silence — the longest gap in the visible history — with support for multi-state Cox models through an experimental tidy_coxphms(), plus a coefficient-type helper for brmsfit. The selector-removal arc that ran from 1.17.0 through 1.22.0 is finished, leaving the package narrowed to pure translation work.
◆ Where it's heading
The accretive arc is intact but slower than the release list alone suggests: five releases landed between January and September 2025, then nothing until this week. What resumed is the same pattern — one or two model classes per release, shipped as experimental tidiers first (coxphms here, svy_vglm in 1.21.0, vgam in 1.20.0) and hardened later. With the dot-prefixed selectors removed and the marginal-means tidiers deprecated, the package has stopped shedding scope and is back to only adding it. Whether cadence returns to 2025 levels or this is an isolated maintenance release is not readable from these entries.
◆ Prediction
The next release most likely promotes tidy_coxphms() out of experimental status or absorbs another survival-family or Bayesian model class, following the pattern of the last six. The entries give no signal on whether the eleven-month gap was a pause or a new baseline.
Distributions.jl
5.0ANALYTICS
Julia's distribution library keeps filing down the edges where sampling meets array types
◆ Current state
Distributions.jl ships small, frequent releases against a large and settled API surface. The newest release accepts any AbstractVecOrMat when sampling from an MvNormal, closing a reported case where rand! ran much slower for an AbstractMatrix than for a plain Matrix. Around it sits the usual mix of per-distribution correctness fixes, fitting support such as sufficient statistics and MLE for Chi and Chisq, and dependency pruning.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc is consolidation rather than expansion, and this release is a clean example: the fix is not a new distribution but a signature loosened so the library behaves the same whatever array type callers hand it. Together with earlier sparsity tracing through constructors and looser MvNormal type aliases, the direction is a package that composes predictably with the rest of the Julia numerical stack instead of one that grows new surface.
◆ Prediction
Expect the same cadence of per-distribution fixes and fitting-method additions, with further signature loosening where concrete array types are still assumed. Nothing in these entries signals a major version or API break.
Alternatives to broom.helpers and Distributions.jl
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 broom.helpers or Distributions.jl.
Power BI
Power BI's monthly grind: authoring defaults, DAX documentation, and mobile finally catching up.
ggquiver
ggquiver is awake again, fixing arrow scaling that quietly misread irregular data.
vecvec
A lazy vector container keeps closing the gaps where it quietly materialised anyway.
haze
Mesh interpolation drops its custom fork dependency and sheds weight.
scimesh
A mesh renderer grows a scene graph and an exit route into glTF.
See all broom.helpers alternatives → · See all Distributions.jl alternatives →
Recent activity from broom.helpers and Distributions.jl
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 11h agobroom.helpersMulti-state Cox models get an experimental tidier
- 1d agoDistributions.jlMvNormal sampling accepts any AbstractVecOrMat, closing a rand! slowdown
- 25d agoDistributions.jlLogitNormal comment fix and doc typo cleanup
- 1mo agoDistributions.jlLooser MvNormal and MvNormalCanon type aliases
- 1mo agoDistributions.jlTruncated Chernoff quantile and sparsity tracing fixes
- 2mo agoDistributions.jlSparsity tracing works through distribution constructors
- 2mo agoDistributions.jlStatsFuns 2 upgrade and CI action bumps
- 11mo agobroom.helpersQuantile regression support lands as legacy selectors are removed
- 1y agobroom.helpersExperimental tidier for survey-weighted VGAM models
- 1y agobroom.helpersNew grouping controls for tidied model results
- 1y agobroom.helpersMarginal means tidier hard deprecated
- 1y agobroom.helpersInstrumental variable support for fixest models
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between broom.helpers and Distributions.jl?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Distributions.jl 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 broom.helpers better than Distributions.jl?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Distributions.jl 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 broom.helpers?
Top broom.helpers alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "broom.helpers alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/broom-helpers for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Distributions.jl?
Top Distributions.jl alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Distributions.jl alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/distributions-jl for the full list with editorial commentary on each.