r2rtf
The clinical-report table engine learned Chinese, then learned to leave RTF entirely
Comparison · Analytics
brulee vs slider
A side-by-side editorial comparison of brulee and slider — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
brulee vs slider: at a glance
What is brulee?
tidymodels' torch backend grew from MLPs into a tabular deep learning suite with foundation models.
brulee fits neural networks for tidymodels on torch, and 1.0.0 redefined what that means: alongside the original MLP it now ships Regularization Learning Networks, ResNet with skip connections and batch normalization, AutoInt with columnwise attention, SAINT with row and column attention, and Chronos2, a foundational forecasting model. GPU acceleration arrived in the same release with automatic CUDA selection and opt-in MPS. Version 1.1.0 added TabICL, an open-source tabular foundation model, and 1.1.1 spent its time cleaning up the consequences of shipping models that need weight downloads.
What is slider?
Feature-complete since 2021, and every release since has been paying CRAN's C API bill
slider provides sliding-window and index-aware window functions for R, with a C implementation underneath and a specialised fast path for common aggregations. The user-facing surface has been stable since 0.3.0 in late 2022. Everything after that is compliance and platform work: STRING_PTR removed in 0.3.2, OBJECT() removed in 0.3.3, a vctrs callable's C signature corrected, and the minimum R version raised twice.
brulee vs slider: editorial side-by-side
brulee
0.0ANALYTICS
tidymodels' torch backend grew from MLPs into a tabular deep learning suite with foundation models.
◆ Current state
brulee fits neural networks for tidymodels on torch, and 1.0.0 redefined what that means: alongside the original MLP it now ships Regularization Learning Networks, ResNet with skip connections and batch normalization, AutoInt with columnwise attention, SAINT with row and column attention, and Chronos2, a foundational forecasting model. GPU acceleration arrived in the same release with automatic CUDA selection and opt-in MPS. Version 1.1.0 added TabICL, an open-source tabular foundation model, and 1.1.1 spent its time cleaning up the consequences of shipping models that need weight downloads.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has crossed from a torch convenience wrapper into a catalog of current tabular architectures, and the recent releases show it absorbing what that costs. Pretrained weights meant a 400MB download, so 1.1.1 stopped fetching them on attach and moved the cache to the platform-appropriate R_user_dir location. Numerical robustness is the other constant thread — 64-bit tensors, Gaussian initialization, gradient clipping extended architecture by architecture, and a ResNet batch-normalization bug where a single-row trailing batch produced all-NA predictions.
◆ Prediction
Gradient clipping has been rolled out one architecture at a time and TabICL is the newest arrival, so the likely next step is bringing the foundation models to parity with the trained ones on device selection, prediction types, and the tuning surface.
slider
0.0ANALYTICS
Feature-complete since 2021, and every release since has been paying CRAN's C API bill
◆ Current state
slider provides sliding-window and index-aware window functions for R, with a C implementation underneath and a specialised fast path for common aggregations. The user-facing surface has been stable since 0.3.0 in late 2022. Everything after that is compliance and platform work: STRING_PTR removed in 0.3.2, OBJECT() removed in 0.3.3, a vctrs callable's C signature corrected, and the minimum R version raised twice.
◆ Where it's heading
Two forces set the release schedule, and neither is feature demand. The first is CRAN closing off non-API C entry points, which packages reaching into R internals for speed have to unwind one accessor at a time — slider is on its second such release with no visible loss of function. The second is vctrs, whose breaking changes slider absorbs ahead of time; 0.2.2 exists solely to prepare for one. The last release that added anything callers can see was 0.3.0's slider_plus() and slider_minus() extension hooks.
◆ Prediction
Expect the pattern to continue: another non-API accessor removal or a vctrs compatibility release, rather than new window functions. The C-level surface is the only part of this package still moving.
Alternatives to brulee and slider
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 brulee or slider.
DoseFinding
New stewardship at openpharma, then two releases adding the methods MCP-Mod was missing
webmockr
The stubbing library added httr2 support, then spent a year cutting itself free of everything else
crul
crul took mocking back from webmockr and made it a property of the client itself
dendroNetwork
Six releases, six identical bodies — the feed carries the package abstract instead of release notes
chattr
chattr deleted every LLM integration it had written and outsourced the lot to ellmer
See all brulee alternatives → · See all slider alternatives →
Recent activity from brulee and slider
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agobruleeModel weights no longer download on package attach
- 1mo agobruleeTabICL foundation model added, gradient clipping extended
- 1mo agobruleeFive new architectures and GPU support arrive at 1.0.0 ⚡
- 9mo agosliderNon-API OBJECT() removed and a vctrs C signature fixed
- 11mo agobrulee64-bit tensors and new optimizers to stop loss overflow
- 1y agobruleeNumerical overflow unit test removed
- 1y agobruleebrulee_mlp_two_layer() convenience wrapper for parsnip
- 1y agosliderNon-API STRING_PTR removed; R 4.0.0 now required
- 2y agosliderValgrind test fixes and dependency version bumps
- 3y agosliderExtension hooks let clock and almanac types serve as an index
- 5y agosliderInternal vec_order usage updated ahead of a vctrs break
- 5y agosliderlong double alignment issue fixed for CRAN sanitisers
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between brulee and slider?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. brulee and slider 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 brulee better than slider?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. brulee and slider 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 brulee?
Top brulee alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "brulee alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/brulee for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to slider?
Top slider alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "slider alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/slider for the full list with editorial commentary on each.