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constants vs tern.rbmi

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

constants vs tern.rbmi: at a glance

Featureconstantstern.rbmi
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesphysical-constants, codata, units, uncertainty-propagationpharmaverse, multiple-imputation, cran-maintenance, tabulation
Last editorial update49m ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

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.

Read the full constants trajectory →

What is tern.rbmi?

Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.

tern.rbmi renders the output of {rbmi} reference-based multiple imputation analyses into tern tables for clinical reporting. Its three most recent releases exist to satisfy CRAN: restricting vignette builds to gcc, adding V8 to Suggests, and a plain resubmission. No user-facing functionality has changed in the visible window, and the three older entries now backfilled are version-bump automation.

Read the full tern.rbmi trajectory →

constants vs tern.rbmi: editorial side-by-side

C
constants
ANALYTICS
0.0

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.

T
tern.rbmi
ANALYTICS
0.0

Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.

◆ Current state

tern.rbmi renders the output of {rbmi} reference-based multiple imputation analyses into tern tables for clinical reporting. Its three most recent releases exist to satisfy CRAN: restricting vignette builds to gcc, adding V8 to Suggests, and a plain resubmission. No user-facing functionality has changed in the visible window, and the three older entries now backfilled are version-bump automation.

◆ Where it's heading

This is a thin adapter package and behaves like one — it moves when CRAN or an upstream dependency forces it to. Between 2022 and 2024 the feed shows only version bumps, and the 2025 releases are packaging concerns rather than analysis changes. The newly surfaced 2022 entries reinforce rather than change that reading.

◆ Prediction

Expect the next release to be triggered by a CRAN check failure or an {rbmi} update rather than by new tabulation features.

Alternatives to constants and tern.rbmi

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 tern.rbmi.

See all constants alternatives → · See all tern.rbmi alternatives →

Recent activity from constants and tern.rbmi

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

  1. 1y agotern.rbmiVignette built only under gcc
  2. 1y agotern.rbmiV8 added to Suggests
  3. 1y agotern.rbmiCRAN resubmission with dependency and workflow updates
  4. 3y agotern.rbmiAutomated release commit for 0.1.1
  5. 4y agotern.rbmiDevelopment version bump to 0.1.0.9004
  6. 4y agotern.rbmiCI automation commit, no release content
  7. 5y agoconstantsCompatibility fix for units 0.7-0
  8. 5y agoconstantsconstants 1.0.0
  9. 8y agoconstantsUnit handling fixes ahead of the 1.0.0 rebuild

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between constants and tern.rbmi?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. constants and tern.rbmi 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 tern.rbmi?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. constants and tern.rbmi 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 tern.rbmi?

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