simlandr
Potential landscape tooling settling onto standard R generics after two rounds of renaming.
Comparison · Analytics
crossmap vs stringx
A side-by-side editorial comparison of crossmap and stringx — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
crossmap vs stringx: at a glance
What is crossmap?
crossmap's roadmap is set by purrr and furrr — it deprecates what upstream deprecates.
A small package for mapping over combinations of arguments, following purrr and furrr conventions. Its own functional additions stopped after xpluck() in 2023 and the cross_fit() clustering work in 2022. Everything since tracks upstream: xmap_raw() and future_xmap_raw() are now defunct because purrr removed map_raw() and furrr removed future_pmap_raw(), and re-exported parallel helpers now come from parallelly rather than future.
What is stringx?
A drop-in string API for base R, kept alive by upstream check failures.
stringx reimplements base R's string and date-time functions on top of stringi, aiming for consistent and Unicode-correct behaviour. The visible window holds one behavioural change and five releases that exist because R or stringi moved underneath it. None of the recent notes add capability.
crossmap vs stringx: editorial side-by-side
crossmap
0.0ANALYTICS
crossmap's roadmap is set by purrr and furrr — it deprecates what upstream deprecates.
◆ Current state
A small package for mapping over combinations of arguments, following purrr and furrr conventions. Its own functional additions stopped after xpluck() in 2023 and the cross_fit() clustering work in 2022. Everything since tracks upstream: xmap_raw() and future_xmap_raw() are now defunct because purrr removed map_raw() and furrr removed future_pmap_raw(), and re-exported parallel helpers now come from parallelly rather than future.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has settled into being a compatible extension rather than an independent one — its release notes read as a mirror of purrr's and furrr's deprecation schedules. Note that the release stamps are unreliable here: several versions were backfilled minutes apart and the 0.3.x tags carry timestamps in reverse version order, so feed position says nothing about what shipped when.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to be driven by another purrr or furrr change rather than new functionality, since that has been the sole trigger for the last four.
stringx
0.0ANALYTICS
A drop-in string API for base R, kept alive by upstream check failures.
◆ Current state
stringx reimplements base R's string and date-time functions on top of stringi, aiming for consistent and Unicode-correct behaviour. The visible window holds one behavioural change and five releases that exist because R or stringi moved underneath it. None of the recent notes add capability.
◆ Where it's heading
The package's shape was settled by 0.2.1 and has not changed since; every release in the past three years is either a check failure fixed or a POSIXxt defect. The one substantive note, 0.2.6, records a behaviour change inherited from stringi rather than chosen here - strptime now fills missing fields from today's midnight. That dependence is the defining fact about the feed.
◆ Prediction
The next release is most likely another compatibility fix timed to an R or stringi update, since four of the six visible releases were exactly that.
Alternatives to crossmap and stringx
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 crossmap or stringx.
lavaanExtra
SEM reporting helpers converging on APA output, one CRAN resubmission at a time.
ibis.iSDM
A raster-to-terra migration is the only readable change in a feed of merge notes.
anyflights
A nycflights13 generator whose recent work is all about the data being right.
vinereg
Conditional density and log-likelihood fill out a vine copula regression package.
healthyR.data
From a bundled hospital dataset to a live CMS API client.
See all crossmap alternatives → · See all stringx alternatives →
Recent activity from crossmap and stringx
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 6mo agocrossmapRaw-vector mapping functions removed
- 6mo agocrossmapRe-exports moved to the parallelly namespace
- 11mo agocrossmapFuture-backed tests skipped on CRAN
- 11mo agocrossmapInternal test fixes
- 1y agostringxPOSIXlt conversion now sets the GMT offset
- 2y agostringxTests repaired after changes in R
- 2y agostringxstrptime fills missing fields from today's midnight
- 3y agostringxChecks repaired after an R update
- 3y agocrossmapxpluck adds multi-index plucking
- 3y agostringxChecks repaired after an R-devel change
- 3y agostringxFailing checks fixed
- 4y agocrossmapCluster specifications supported in cross_fit
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between crossmap and stringx?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. crossmap and stringx 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 crossmap better than stringx?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. crossmap and stringx 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 crossmap?
Top crossmap alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "crossmap alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/crossmap for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to stringx?
Top stringx alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "stringx alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/stringx for the full list with editorial commentary on each.