qqman
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
Comparison · Analytics
constants vs fairmodels
A side-by-side editorial comparison of constants and fairmodels — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
constants vs fairmodels: at a glance
What is constants?
The R package for CODATA constants rebuilt its symbol table on NIST's naming so future updates stop being hand work.
constants exposes the CODATA recommended values of the physical constants to R, as a data frame plus symbol lists that carry units, uncertainties, or both. The package reached 1.0.0 on the 2018 CODATA release and has shipped once since, purely to track a units package update. Its surface is small and its release cadence is bound to CODATA, which revises every few years.
What is fairmodels?
fairmodels sits dormant for three years, resurfacing only to satisfy a CRAN check.
fairmodels audits classification models for bias, built around fairness_check() and parity-loss metrics on top of DALEX explainers. The last substantive work dates from 2021; the 2025 release is a single-line change swapping ifelse for if/else in fairness_heatmap. Version 0.2.2 set the package's core design when it superseded metric differences with ratios.
constants vs fairmodels: editorial side-by-side
constants
0.0ANALYTICS
The R package for CODATA constants rebuilt its symbol table on NIST's naming so future updates stop being hand work.
◆ Current state
constants exposes the CODATA recommended values of the physical constants to R, as a data frame plus symbol lists that carry units, uncertainties, or both. The package reached 1.0.0 on the 2018 CODATA release and has shipped once since, purely to track a units package update. Its surface is small and its release cadence is bound to CODATA, which revises every few years.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction set at 1.0.0 was to stop being a curated convenience wrapper and become a mechanical mirror of NIST. Hand-crafted symbol names were replaced with NIST's own ASCII symbols, categories adopted NIST's, and uncertainty switched from relative to absolute — all framed by the maintainer as necessary to make future CODATA updates routine. On top of that the package gained a correlation matrix and optional integration with the quantities package, moving it from a lookup table toward something that can propagate uncertainty.
◆ Prediction
Having rebuilt the symbol table specifically so CODATA revisions become mechanical, the next substantive release most likely tracks a new CODATA dataset rather than adding API. The experimental correlated-value support, disabled by default at 1.0.0, is the one part these entries flag as unfinished.
fairmodels
0.0ANALYTICS
fairmodels sits dormant for three years, resurfacing only to satisfy a CRAN check.
◆ Current state
fairmodels audits classification models for bias, built around fairness_check() and parity-loss metrics on top of DALEX explainers. The last substantive work dates from 2021; the 2025 release is a single-line change swapping ifelse for if/else in fairness_heatmap. Version 0.2.2 set the package's core design when it superseded metric differences with ratios.
◆ Where it's heading
The release history describes a package that reached its intended shape early and has been custodial since — the gap from August 2022 to October 2025 carries no functional change at all. What movement exists is CRAN-driven: documentation compliance, example runtimes, coding-style notes. The fairness metrics themselves have not changed since the parity_loss corrections of 2020.
◆ Prediction
On this cadence the next release is most likely another CRAN-prompted one-liner rather than new fairness metrics; nothing in these entries points to active development.
Alternatives to constants and fairmodels
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 constants or fairmodels.
austraits
The R client for AusTraits spends its releases chasing the dataset it reads.
ggdemetra
A ggplot2 layer for seasonal adjustment output, filling in one plot type at a time.
fossilsim
A fossil-record simulator that quietly grew a trait-evolution engine.
tern.rbmi
Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.
tern.mmrm
An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.
See all constants alternatives → · See all fairmodels alternatives →
Recent activity from constants and fairmodels
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 9mo agofairmodelsOne-line fix in fairness_heatmap
- 3y agofairmodelsCRAN compliance fixes and citation update
- 4y agofairmodelsCRAN v1.2.0
- 5y agofairmodelsCRAN v1.1.0
- 5y agofairmodelsDocumentation fixes and trimmed example runtimes
- 5y agoconstantsCompatibility fix for units 0.7-0
- 5y agofairmodelsCorrects parity_loss in the cutoff functions
- 5y agoconstantsconstants 1.0.0 ⚡
- 8y agoconstantsUnit handling fixes ahead of the 1.0.0 rebuild
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between constants and fairmodels?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. constants and fairmodels 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 constants better than fairmodels?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. constants and fairmodels 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 constants?
Top constants alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "constants alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/constants-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to fairmodels?
Top fairmodels alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fairmodels alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fairmodels for the full list with editorial commentary on each.