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Comparison · DevOps
cpp11 vs promises
A side-by-side editorial comparison of cpp11 and promises — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:performance
cpp11 vs promises: at a glance
What is cpp11?
cpp11 has spent two years rebuilding itself on R's supported API surface
cpp11 is the header-only C++ interface for R packages, and nearly every release in this window is governed by one force: R core's tightening of what counts as non-API. 0.5.0 removed the growable-vector internals that made push_back() cheap, 0.5.3 and 0.5.4 removed further non-API usage, and the small releases in between are crash and compiler-warning fixes.
What is promises?
promises drops R6 for plain environments and wires async work into OpenTelemetry
promises supplies the async primitives behind Shiny and plumber. After years of small domain and future() fixes, the last two releases changed both what a promise costs and what it can report: 1.4.0 corrected nested domain ordering and added the first OpenTelemetry integration, and 1.5.0 replaced the R6 promise class with a classed environment while stabilizing the tracing API.
cpp11 vs promises: editorial side-by-side
cpp11
0.0DEVOPS
cpp11 has spent two years rebuilding itself on R's supported API surface
◆ Current state
cpp11 is the header-only C++ interface for R packages, and nearly every release in this window is governed by one force: R core's tightening of what counts as non-API. 0.5.0 removed the growable-vector internals that made push_back() cheap, 0.5.3 and 0.5.4 removed further non-API usage, and the small releases in between are crash and compiler-warning fixes.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is trading a little performance for the right to keep passing CRAN checks indefinitely, and saying so plainly in the release notes. With R >= 4.0 now required, whole compatibility branches have been deleted rather than maintained. The remaining work is narrow: finish the non-API migration, then get back to interface features like cpp_source() handling multiple files.
◆ Prediction
Expect the last non-API dependencies to be cleared and the deprecated compatibility defines to be removed outright; the entries suggest maintenance discipline rather than new C++ surface.
promises
0.0DEVOPS
promises drops R6 for plain environments and wires async work into OpenTelemetry
◆ Current state
promises supplies the async primitives behind Shiny and plumber. After years of small domain and future() fixes, the last two releases changed both what a promise costs and what it can report: 1.4.0 corrected nested domain ordering and added the first OpenTelemetry integration, and 1.5.0 replaced the R6 promise class with a classed environment while stabilizing the tracing API.
◆ Where it's heading
Two things are being fixed at once. Promise domains - the mechanism that carries context across async boundaries - have been the source of nearly every bug in this window, and they are now being used deliberately as the vehicle for tracing rather than just for error handling. Meanwhile the object itself is being made cheap enough to create in volume.
◆ Prediction
Expect the OpenTelemetry surface to lose its experimental label and pick up the same span coverage Shiny would need end to end; the deprecated ospan function names should be removed in a following release.
Alternatives to cpp11 and promises
Other DevOps 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 cpp11 or promises.
ellipsis
ellipsis' checks live in rlang now; the package is a compatibility shim.
clock
clock is turning calendar conventions lubridate hard-coded into parameterized types.
httpuv
httpuv ships almost nothing, which is what you want from the web server under Shiny
withr
withr rebuilt defer() on base R's own on.exit(), and got much faster for it
htmltools
htmltools spends three releases walking back its own fill-layout opinions
See all cpp11 alternatives → · See all promises alternatives →
Recent activity from cpp11 and promises
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3mo agocpp11cpp_source() accepts multiple files; template crash fixed
- 4mo agocpp11R_NamespaceRegistry usage removed
- 6mo agocpp11ATTRIB() removed; C++ compatibility headers tidied
- 9mo agopromisesOpenTelemetry spans across async work; R6 dropped for environments ⚡
- 9mo agopromisesNested promise domains fixed; then() gains a tee argument
- 1y agopromisesRealigns future object creation with the future package
- 1y agocpp11cpp11 0.5.2
- 1y agocpp11R 4.0 required; unwind-protect and ALTREP defines retired
- 1y agopromisesFixes stack overflow on long promise chains
- 1y agopromisesFixes domains forgotten inside nested handlers
- 1y agocpp11Growable-vector internals dropped for R's supported API ⚡
- 3y agopromisesfuture_promise() returns early when workers are exhausted
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cpp11 and promises?
Both compete on the same themes — performance — within DevOps. cpp11 and promises 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 cpp11 better than promises?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. cpp11 and promises 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 DevOps products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to cpp11?
Top cpp11 alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "cpp11 alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/cpp11 for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to promises?
Top promises alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "promises alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/promises for the full list with editorial commentary on each.