ggdist
The grammar of uncertainty visualization, now drawing the uncertainty in its own estimates.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
cvms vs metR
A side-by-side editorial comparison of cvms and metR — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
cvms vs metR: at a glance
What is cvms?
A cross-validation package whose real development has moved to its plotting function
cvms runs repeated cross-validation over model formulas and reports comparable metrics. The 2.0.0 release was a breaking correctness fix: every function accepting fold_cols mismatched training and testing data when fold indices were non-sequential, did not start at 1, or were strings, because the iteration index was compared against the raw fold value rather than its factor level index. 2.0.1 restored coefficient extraction for nnet::multinom and mixed models by supplying an environment containing the training data, and followed lme4's move of findbars() into the reformulas package.
What is metR?
A meteorology ggplot2 extension where the netCDF reader became the main event
metR supplies meteorological and oceanographic tools for R: contour and streamline geoms, EOF decomposition, wave fitting, and ReadNetCDF() for getting gridded data in. Development has concentrated heavily on that reader. Version 0.18.0 added subsetting by dimension index, so the first or last ten timesteps can be read without knowing how many exist; 0.18.1 moved time parsing to the CFtime package; 0.18.2 added cdo operations through rcdo and reading across multiple files in parallel, and fixed a subsetting bug where nearest-gridpoint matching could return data outside the requested range entirely.
cvms vs metR: editorial side-by-side
cvms
0.0INFRA · APIS
A cross-validation package whose real development has moved to its plotting function
◆ Current state
cvms runs repeated cross-validation over model formulas and reports comparable metrics. The 2.0.0 release was a breaking correctness fix: every function accepting fold_cols mismatched training and testing data when fold indices were non-sequential, did not start at 1, or were strings, because the iteration index was compared against the raw fold value rather than its factor level index. 2.0.1 restored coefficient extraction for nnet::multinom and mixed models by supplying an environment containing the training data, and followed lme4's move of findbars() into the reformulas package.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads run in parallel and only one is about cross-validation. The plotting function plot_confusion_matrix() has absorbed most feature work since 1.5.0 - custom gradient palettes, intensity limits, per-tile settings, dynamic font colors keyed to value thresholds, and arguments that accept functions rather than constants - to the point where a companion web application exists for using it without code. The cross-validation core, by contrast, sees maintenance: upstream compatibility fixes for pROC, ggnewscale and ggplot2, and the fold-matching correction that finally forced a major version.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued option growth in the confusion matrix plotting surface, since that is where nearly every release since 1.5.0 has spent its changes, with core cross-validation changes arriving only as upstream packages force them.
metR
0.0INFRA · APIS
A meteorology ggplot2 extension where the netCDF reader became the main event
◆ Current state
metR supplies meteorological and oceanographic tools for R: contour and streamline geoms, EOF decomposition, wave fitting, and ReadNetCDF() for getting gridded data in. Development has concentrated heavily on that reader. Version 0.18.0 added subsetting by dimension index, so the first or last ten timesteps can be read without knowing how many exist; 0.18.1 moved time parsing to the CFtime package; 0.18.2 added cdo operations through rcdo and reading across multiple files in parallel, and fixed a subsetting bug where nearest-gridpoint matching could return data outside the requested range entirely.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads run through the releases. The first is tracking ggplot2, absorbing the linewidth aesthetic, the trans to transform rename and guide compatibility as each landed upstream. The second is narrowing scope while deepening the data path: GetSMNData() was made defunct as too specific for a general package, raster and gdal dependencies were removed, and the udunits2 dependency was dropped when it was orphaned, initially replaced by a homebrewed date parser and eventually by CFtime. The result is a package steadily shedding its own code in favour of specialised upstream libraries.
◆ Prediction
Expect further ReadNetCDF() work, since it has received features in four of the last five releases and the rcdo integration opens a large surface of operations to expose.
Alternatives to cvms and metR
Other Infra & APIs 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 cvms or metR.
ipaddress
IP address vectors for R that hit 1.0 and then went quiet.
ltertools
A column-key toolkit for stitching decades of ecological field data into one table.
finnts
Microsoft's automated forecasting framework, still mostly a one-maintainer effort.
BayLum
Bayesian luminescence dating that finally replaced its folder-structure input format.
daedalus
An epidemic-economic model teaching its interventions to react to the outbreak itself.
Recent activity from cvms and metR
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agocvmsCoefficient extraction restored for multinom and mixed models
- 7mo agometRSubset notation fix in the netCDF reader
- 9mo agocvmsBreaking fix for mismatched folds with non-sequential fold IDs
- 11mo agometRcdo operations, parallel multi-file reads, and a subsetting correctness fix
- 11mo agocvmsTest compatibility with pROC 1.19 and a deprecation warning fix
- 1y agocvmsConfusion matrix fonts and colors can now be computed from the values
- 1y agometRnetCDF time parsing handed to the CFtime package
- 1y agometRnetCDF subsetting by dimension index
- 1y agometRLongitude scales pass the transform argument correctly
- 1y agocvmsTile intensity by row or column percentages
- 1y agocvmsMultinom coefficient extraction fix after a parameters update
- 1y agometREOF rotation takes a function, and scope narrows
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cvms and metR?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Infra & APIs. cvms and metR 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 cvms better than metR?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. cvms and metR 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to cvms?
Top cvms alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "cvms alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/cvms for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to metR?
Top metR alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "metR alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/metr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.