qqman
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
Comparison · Analytics
constants vs multimput
A side-by-side editorial comparison of constants and multimput — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
constants vs multimput: 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 multimput?
Ecological imputation tooling whose recent work is mostly about not falling over.
multimput handles multiple imputation for ecological monitoring counts, wrapping INLA and glm-style models with aggregation helpers for the follow-up analysis. The mature capability arrived with hurdle models and broader zero-inflated distribution support; recent releases have focused on degenerate inputs — empty data, identical imputations, models that never finish. It shares INBO's checklist packaging machinery with its sibling packages.
constants vs multimput: 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.
multimput
0.0ANALYTICS
Ecological imputation tooling whose recent work is mostly about not falling over.
◆ Current state
multimput handles multiple imputation for ecological monitoring counts, wrapping INLA and glm-style models with aggregation helpers for the follow-up analysis. The mature capability arrived with hurdle models and broader zero-inflated distribution support; recent releases have focused on degenerate inputs — empty data, identical imputations, models that never finish. It shares INBO's checklist packaging machinery with its sibling packages.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is defensive hardening rather than new statistics. Each recent release names a specific way the pipeline failed in practice — an empty join, all-identical imputed values, a runaway model — and closes it. That is characteristic of a package used in production monitoring workflows where the input data cannot be assumed well-behaved.
◆ Prediction
Expect further edge-case handling in model_impute() and aggregate_impute(); nothing here suggests new model families are queued.
Alternatives to constants and multimput
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 multimput.
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 multimput alternatives →
Recent activity from constants and multimput
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1y agomultimputFixes single-covariate selection in hurdle_impute()
- 1y agomultimputTimeout, covariate filtering and degenerate-input handling
- 2y agomultimputAccepts model functions by name; handles empty joins
- 3y agomultimputHurdle models and wider zero-inflated distribution support
- 4y agomultimputVignette builds without INLA installed
- 4y agomultimputAdopts INBO checklist packaging infrastructure
- 5y agoconstantsCompatibility fix for units 0.7-0
- 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 multimput?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. constants and multimput 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 multimput?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. constants and multimput 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 multimput?
Top multimput alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "multimput alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/multimput for the full list with editorial commentary on each.