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collapse vs spatstat

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

Shared themes:r-package

collapse vs spatstat: at a glance

Featurecollapsespatstat
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesdata-transformation, performance, simd, grouped-statisticsspatial-statistics, r-package, metapackage, documentation
Last editorial update1h ago5h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is collapse?

collapse got a JSS paper and a 7x fmean speedup in the same release.

collapse provides fast grouped statistical computing and data transformation for R, built on a C backend with its own grouping, hashing and aggregation primitives. The 2.1.x line is a maintenance and optimization series: SIMD multiple-accumulator work delivering roughly 2x on fsum() and 7x on fmean() for systems without OpenMP, a custom internal unlist() with better attribute preservation, and a steady stream of correctness fixes in collap(), pivot() and roworderv().

Read the full collapse trajectory →

What is spatstat?

The spatstat umbrella package, now mostly a pointer to the sub-packages doing the work

spatstat is the front package of a family that was split into specialised components — spatstat.geom, spatstat.random, spatstat.model, spatstat.explore, spatstat.univar and spatstat.sparse. Its own release notes reflect that: entries in this window are largely announcements of where the real changes landed, plus documentation and cross-reference maintenance. The codebase it fronts passed 200,000 lines as of 3.5-1.

Read the full spatstat trajectory →

collapse vs spatstat: editorial side-by-side

C
collapse
ANALYTICS
0.0

collapse got a JSS paper and a 7x fmean speedup in the same release.

◆ Current state

collapse provides fast grouped statistical computing and data transformation for R, built on a C backend with its own grouping, hashing and aggregation primitives. The 2.1.x line is a maintenance and optimization series: SIMD multiple-accumulator work delivering roughly 2x on fsum() and 7x on fmean() for systems without OpenMP, a custom internal unlist() with better attribute preservation, and a steady stream of correctness fixes in collap(), pivot() and roworderv().

◆ Where it's heading

The package is consolidating institutionally as much as technically. The repository moved to the fastverse organization with multiple people granted access, the Journal of Statistical Software paper landed as the primary citation, and documentation now includes an AI-generated interactive layer. Technically the focus is the hashing and grouping core — the decision to treat -0 and 0 as equal across funique(), group(), fmatch(), fmode() and their derivatives was made in sync with an equivalent change in Rcpp, and accepted a measured 3% cost to get it. The last release with breaking changes sits outside this six-entry window.

◆ Prediction

Expect further targeted performance work on the grouped statistical functions and continued small correctness fixes; the governance move to fastverse suggests contribution volume rather than direction is what the maintainer is managing.

S
spatstat
ANALYTICS
0.0

The spatstat umbrella package, now mostly a pointer to the sub-packages doing the work

◆ Current state

spatstat is the front package of a family that was split into specialised components — spatstat.geom, spatstat.random, spatstat.model, spatstat.explore, spatstat.univar and spatstat.sparse. Its own release notes reflect that: entries in this window are largely announcements of where the real changes landed, plus documentation and cross-reference maintenance. The codebase it fronts passed 200,000 lines as of 3.5-1.

◆ Where it's heading

The split is effectively complete and the umbrella's role has settled into coordination — tracking version dependencies across sub-packages and pointing users to them. The family has kept subdividing over this period, with spatstat.univar joining in 3.1-0. The one substantive user-facing addition here is documentation infrastructure: 3.3-0 added the ability to list the history of changes to a specific function, which is a navigational answer to a codebase now spread across many packages.

◆ Prediction

Expect this package's notes to continue summarising sub-package activity rather than carrying features of its own, since every release in this window does exactly that. Read spatstat.geom, spatstat.random and spatstat.model for the substance.

Alternatives to collapse and spatstat

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 collapse or spatstat.

See all collapse alternatives → · See all spatstat alternatives →

Recent activity from collapse and spatstat

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

  1. 2mo agospatstatSub-package updates across sparse, univar and random
  2. 2mo agocollapseSIMD accumulators give fmean a 7x speedup without OpenMP
  3. 6mo agospatstatspatstat passes 200,000 lines of code
  4. 7mo agocollapseNegative zero now hashes equal to zero across the package
  5. 8mo agocollapsecollap() no longer double-aggregates external weights
  6. 9mo agocollapseCustom unlist() preserves attributes
  7. 10mo agospatstatNew vignette documenting NA spatial objects
  8. 0y agocollapseAssorted bug fixes
  9. 1y agocollapsena_insert gains by-reference mode; gsplit and pivot speed up
  10. 1y agospatstatPer-function change history now listable
  11. 2y agospatstatspatstat.univar joins the package family
  12. 3y agospatstatSub-package cross-references and docs corrected

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between collapse and spatstat?

Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. collapse and spatstat 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 collapse better than spatstat?

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

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

What are the best alternatives to spatstat?

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