webchem
Adding chemical databases with one hand while public ones close programmatic access with the other.
Comparison · Analytics
chromer vs lobstr
A side-by-side editorial comparison of chromer and lobstr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
chromer vs lobstr: at a glance
What is chromer?
A chromosome-count database client that only ever ships when the upstream API moves.
chromer is a thin R client for the Chromosome Counts Database. Every release in the past three years is maintenance: a new maintainer and licence change in 0.3, test-skipping when the upstream service is down in 0.4, and two separate releases whose entire content is that the database's URL changed again. The current 0.10 points at ccdb.tau.ac.il/services/.
What is lobstr?
R's object inspector is losing its view of the internals as CRAN closes off the private C API.
lobstr exposes R's internal object representation — sizes, addresses, reference counts, abstract syntax trees. Its two most recent releases are both driven by R's move to a restricted public C API: 1.1.3 stopped reporting a vector's truelength and reworked the reference indicator into refs:n, and 1.2.0 changed what sxp(expand = "environment") shows in order to stay compliant. 1.2.0 also adds src() for exploring srcref objects.
chromer vs lobstr: editorial side-by-side
chromer
0.0ANALYTICS
A chromosome-count database client that only ever ships when the upstream API moves.
◆ Current state
chromer is a thin R client for the Chromosome Counts Database. Every release in the past three years is maintenance: a new maintainer and licence change in 0.3, test-skipping when the upstream service is down in 0.4, and two separate releases whose entire content is that the database's URL changed again. The current 0.10 points at ccdb.tau.ac.il/services/.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is functionally complete and externally driven — its release cadence is a record of the CCDB's hosting history rather than of any development plan. The defensive work in 0.4, which added an internal check for whether the database is down and skips tests accordingly, shows the maintainer treating upstream instability as the permanent condition rather than an incident.
◆ Prediction
The next release will most likely be triggered by another CCDB endpoint or format change; nothing in the history suggests new functionality is planned.
lobstr
0.0ANALYTICS
R's object inspector is losing its view of the internals as CRAN closes off the private C API.
◆ Current state
lobstr exposes R's internal object representation — sizes, addresses, reference counts, abstract syntax trees. Its two most recent releases are both driven by R's move to a restricted public C API: 1.1.3 stopped reporting a vector's truelength and reworked the reference indicator into refs:n, and 1.2.0 changed what sxp(expand = "environment") shows in order to stay compliant. 1.2.0 also adds src() for exploring srcref objects.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is being rebuilt inside a shrinking window of what R permits. Each release trades some introspection depth for API conformance while trying to keep the diagnostic value intact — showing promise expressions instead of internal frame structures, replacing named with a documented refs scale. Where the constraint does not bite, development continues normally: src() is genuinely new, and the environment-binding fixes remove long-standing errors on for-loop and immediate bindings.
◆ Prediction
Expect further conformance work, since the notes describe it as ongoing, with any remaining non-API-dependent readouts either reworked or dropped as R tightens further.
Alternatives to chromer and lobstr
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 chromer or lobstr.
sftime
The spatiotemporal companion to sf, moving at the pace of the packages around it.
ReLTER
An interface to Europe's long-term ecosystem research network that went quiet after 2.0.
waywiser
Spatial model assessment that spent the last year on cross-platform arithmetic and CRAN rules.
taxizedb
Stopped trusting the cloud to prepare its taxonomic databases and does the conversion locally.
fellingdater
Went from estimating felling dates to doing the crossdating that produces them.
See all chromer alternatives → · See all lobstr alternatives →
Recent activity from chromer and lobstr
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5mo agolobstrNew src() for srcrefs; environment bindings stop erroring
- 9mo agolobstrtruelength reporting dropped for public C API compliance ⚡
- 1y agochromerChromosome Counts Database endpoint moved again
- 2y agochromerDatabase URL updated after upstream move
- 2y agochromerAPI calls switched to https
- 2y agochromerDocumentation tweak for a CRAN check
- 3y agochromerTests skipped when the upstream database is down
- 3y agochromerNew maintainer; licence changes from CC0 to MIT
- 4y agolobstrMoves to cpp11, relicensed MIT, adds experimental tree()
- 7y agolobstrPROTECT error fixed
- 7y agolobstrALTREP sizes computed correctly; obj_addr() stops side-effecting
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between chromer and lobstr?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. chromer and lobstr 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 chromer better than lobstr?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. chromer and lobstr 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 chromer?
Top chromer alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "chromer alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/chromer for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to lobstr?
Top lobstr alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "lobstr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/lobstr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.