cIRT
A choice-based IRT model published once in 2019 and kept compiling ever since
Comparison · Analytics
common vs hubExamples
A side-by-side editorial comparison of common and hubExamples — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
common vs hubExamples: at a glance
What is common?
A base-R utility belt that grows one small function at a time, on no particular schedule
common collects small helpers that base R leaves out — data frame labelling and sorting, infix operators for pasting and equality, UTF-8 superscript and subscript lookups, file and directory search, attribute copying between data frames. It has no dependencies to speak of and deliberately removed the one it had. In practice it is the shared substrate for its author's wider package family, and its source.all() function is maintained specifically to cooperate with the logr logging package.
What is hubExamples?
Example data for the hubverse, moving whenever the standards it demonstrates move.
hubExamples ships the reference datasets that hubverse vignettes and downstream packages use to demonstrate forecast and target data. Its releases track the hubverse specification rather than any independent roadmap: 1.0.0 exists because the target time series standard changed, and 0.1.0 because the oracle output terminology did. The current release, 1.0.1, is a single fix for column deserialisation on systems without arrow.
common vs hubExamples: editorial side-by-side
common
0.0ANALYTICS
A base-R utility belt that grows one small function at a time, on no particular schedule
◆ Current state
common collects small helpers that base R leaves out — data frame labelling and sorting, infix operators for pasting and equality, UTF-8 superscript and subscript lookups, file and directory search, attribute copying between data frames. It has no dependencies to speak of and deliberately removed the one it had. In practice it is the shared substrate for its author's wider package family, and its source.all() function is maintained specifically to cooperate with the logr logging package.
◆ Where it's heading
The pattern is accretion rather than direction: each release adds a couple of utilities and fixes whatever the last batch broke, with gaps of a year or more between them. Function additions cluster around whatever the author's other packages needed at the time — file search, attribute preservation, group-boundary detection, script sourcing. The 2025 release continues exactly this, extending the infix comparison operators from equality alone to the full set of relational tests.
◆ Prediction
Expect more of the same shape — a handful of small helpers whenever a sibling package needs them — with no sign in these entries of a broader API push.
hubExamples
0.0ANALYTICS
Example data for the hubverse, moving whenever the standards it demonstrates move.
◆ Current state
hubExamples ships the reference datasets that hubverse vignettes and downstream packages use to demonstrate forecast and target data. Its releases track the hubverse specification rather than any independent roadmap: 1.0.0 exists because the target time series standard changed, and 0.1.0 because the oracle output terminology did. The current release, 1.0.1, is a single fix for column deserialisation on systems without arrow.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a downstream member of the hubverse package family, alongside hubUtils, hubData and hubValidations, and it moves when they define something new. The pattern across all four entries is the same: a standard changes upstream, hubExamples updates its data objects and vignettes to match. Sibling package hubAdmin has not shipped since November 2025, so the cohort is not currently in a coordinated wave.
◆ Prediction
The next release will most likely follow the next hubverse data-standard revision rather than lead it.
Alternatives to common and hubExamples
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 common or hubExamples.
MetaboAnalystR
The R engine behind MetaboAnalyst closes the gap from raw spectra to biological interpretation
fmtr
Rebuilding SAS's formatting layer in R, one format specification at a time
betaselectr
Standardised coefficients for models where standardising everything is wrong — but the feed only links out
SSN2
Stream-network spatial models learning to run on data that no longer fits in memory
BiocManager
Bioconductor's installer, frozen at 1.30.x and tuned almost entirely through environment variables
See all common alternatives → · See all hubExamples alternatives →
Recent activity from common and hubExamples
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3mo agohubExampleshubExamples 1.0.1
- 7mo agohubExampleshubExamples 1.0.0
- 8mo agocommonFull set of relational infix operators added
- 1y agohubExampleshubExamples 0.1.0
- 1y agohubExampleshubExamples 0.0.1
- 2y agocommonsource.all() fixed to cooperate with logr
- 2y agocommonsource.all() added for sourcing a directory of scripts
- 2y agocommonchanged() fixed for single-value input
- 2y agocommonchanged() identifies grouping boundaries
- 3y agocommonthis.path() dependency removed
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between common and hubExamples?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. common and hubExamples 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 common better than hubExamples?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. common and hubExamples 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 common?
Top common alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "common alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/common for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to hubExamples?
Top hubExamples alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "hubExamples alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hubexamples for the full list with editorial commentary on each.