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Comparison · Analytics

cfr vs maplegend

A side-by-side editorial comparison of cfr and maplegend — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

cfr vs maplegend: at a glance

Featurecfrmaplegend
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesepidemiology, severity-estimation, outbreak-analytics, epiversecartography, legends, base-graphics, spatial
Last editorial update3h ago51m ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is cfr?

cfr packaged delay-corrected severity estimation, then went quiet on maintenance.

The package estimates disease severity and case ascertainment while correcting for the delay between a case being reported and its outcome being known. After the 0.1.1 rework of the estimation internals and a maintainer handover to Adam Kucharski, activity dropped to a vignette and an R-devel compatibility patch in February 2025.

Read the full cfr trajectory →

What is maplegend?

The legend engine mapsf spun out, now covering legend types the parent map package can draw.

maplegend draws the legends for base-R thematic maps, extracted from mapsf so both packages could evolve the legend vocabulary independently. It has been catching up to the map types it has to serve: 0.6.0 added choro_point, choro_line, and choro_symb for choropleth legends rendered on circles, lines, and symbols, following the histogram legend type in 0.4.0. Considerable effort has gone into behaving correctly when the plot aspect ratio is not 1, which required refactoring most of the package in 0.4.0 and still produced a proportional-symbol segment sizing fix in 0.6.3.

Read the full maplegend trajectory →

cfr vs maplegend: editorial side-by-side

C
cfr
ANALYTICS
0.0

cfr packaged delay-corrected severity estimation, then went quiet on maintenance.

◆ Current state

The package estimates disease severity and case ascertainment while correcting for the delay between a case being reported and its outcome being known. After the 0.1.1 rework of the estimation internals and a maintainer handover to Adam Kucharski, activity dropped to a vignette and an R-devel compatibility patch in February 2025.

◆ Where it's heading

The methodological work is done and consolidated: likelihood approximation is now selected automatically from outbreak size and an initial severity estimate, and the internals were renamed with a dot prefix to close the public surface down to cfr_static(), cfr_rolling() and the data-preparation generic. Releases since have been documentation and compatibility only.

◆ Prediction

The 0.1.0 notes flagged time-varying ascertainment as future work and it has not appeared in the two releases since; nothing in these entries indicates when or whether it lands.

M
maplegend
ANALYTICS
0.0

The legend engine mapsf spun out, now covering legend types the parent map package can draw.

◆ Current state

maplegend draws the legends for base-R thematic maps, extracted from mapsf so both packages could evolve the legend vocabulary independently. It has been catching up to the map types it has to serve: 0.6.0 added choro_point, choro_line, and choro_symb for choropleth legends rendered on circles, lines, and symbols, following the histogram legend type in 0.4.0. Considerable effort has gone into behaving correctly when the plot aspect ratio is not 1, which required refactoring most of the package in 0.4.0 and still produced a proportional-symbol segment sizing fix in 0.6.3.

◆ Where it's heading

This is a support library whose backlog is defined by its caller. Every legend type mapsf can produce needs a matching legend renderer, and the release notes are dominated by spacing, offset, and border details — box_cex for symbol spacing, NA box placement in horizontal choropleth legends, text overflow when no_data is set. The shared vocabulary with mapsf is being maintained deliberately, with val_rnd, val_big, and val_dec propagating through legend types release by release. Version numbering is not monotonic in this feed, with 0.4.0 published seconds after 0.5.0.

◆ Prediction

Expect the remaining combined map types to acquire matching legends and the val_* formatting arguments to reach the types that still lack them.

Alternatives to cfr and maplegend

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 cfr or maplegend.

See all cfr alternatives → · See all maplegend alternatives →

Recent activity from cfr and maplegend

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 2mo agomaplegendContinuous legend formatting and aspect-ratio segment fix
  2. 4mo agomaplegendChoropleth legends on points, lines and symbols
  3. 7mo agomaplegendPackage-wide refactor for non-unity aspect ratios, histogram legends
  4. 7mo agomaplegendSingle-modality legends allowed for typo, symb and prop_line
  5. 1y agomaplegendAlpha transparency and redraw on device resize
  6. 1y agomaplegendOffset and symbol sizing aligned with mapsf
  7. 1y agocfrR-devel difftime patch and an individual-data vignette
  8. 2y agocfrSeverity estimator picks its own likelihood approximation
  9. 2y agocfrDelay-corrected severity and ascertainment estimation on CRAN

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cfr and maplegend?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. cfr and maplegend 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 cfr better than maplegend?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. cfr and maplegend 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 cfr?

Top cfr alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "cfr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/cfr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to maplegend?

Top maplegend alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "maplegend alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/maplegend for the full list with editorial commentary on each.