cIRT
A choice-based IRT model published once in 2019 and kept compiling ever since
Comparison · Analytics
dcurves vs TrialEmulation
A side-by-side editorial comparison of dcurves and TrialEmulation — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
dcurves vs TrialEmulation: at a glance
What is dcurves?
Decision curve analysis, settled since 2022 and now moving only when its neighbours do
dcurves implements decision curve analysis — evaluating a prediction model or diagnostic test by net benefit across the range of thresholds a clinician might plausibly use, rather than by a single discrimination statistic. Its API stabilised in 2022 around dca() and test_consequences(). The two releases since exist because gtsummary and CRAN documentation rules changed, not because the method did.
What is TrialEmulation?
Target trial emulation held steady by dependency maintenance, not new methods.
TrialEmulation implements target trial emulation from observational data, using duckdb to handle the expanded per-period datasets that approach generates. Every release in the visible window is upkeep: two consecutive releases removing the archived parglm dependency, two fixing tests against testthat updates, and two tracking duckdb sampling changes. No methodological work appears in the feed since before February 2025.
dcurves vs TrialEmulation: editorial side-by-side
dcurves
0.0ANALYTICS
Decision curve analysis, settled since 2022 and now moving only when its neighbours do
◆ Current state
dcurves implements decision curve analysis — evaluating a prediction model or diagnostic test by net benefit across the range of thresholds a clinician might plausibly use, rather than by a single discrimination statistic. Its API stabilised in 2022 around dca() and test_consequences(). The two releases since exist because gtsummary and CRAN documentation rules changed, not because the method did.
◆ Where it's heading
The package reached its intended scope quickly and then stopped. Its 2022 releases did the substantive work: adding threshold-level diagnostic accuracy, tightening argument validation, and taking one breaking change to make net-interventions-avoided plots show the treat-all and treat-none reference lines by default. Since then it has moved only as a dependent of the wider tidy-modelling documentation ecosystem it plugs into.
◆ Prediction
Nothing in these entries points to method or API work; expect the next release to be another compatibility or CRAN documentation patch.
TrialEmulation
0.0ANALYTICS
Target trial emulation held steady by dependency maintenance, not new methods.
◆ Current state
TrialEmulation implements target trial emulation from observational data, using duckdb to handle the expanded per-period datasets that approach generates. Every release in the visible window is upkeep: two consecutive releases removing the archived parglm dependency, two fixing tests against testthat updates, and two tracking duckdb sampling changes. No methodological work appears in the feed since before February 2025.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is being kept installable rather than extended. Its dependency surface, duckdb for storage, parglm for fitting, testthat for checks, generates most of the release traffic, and CRAN archiving parglm forced two separate releases three months apart to fully excise it. The version numbering, still in the 0.0.4.x range after years, suggests the maintainers do not consider the API settled enough to promote.
◆ Prediction
Further releases will most likely be triggered by upstream dependency changes; the entries give no signal on when methodological work resumes.
Alternatives to dcurves and TrialEmulation
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 dcurves or TrialEmulation.
MetaboAnalystR
The R engine behind MetaboAnalyst closes the gap from raw spectra to biological interpretation
fmtr
Rebuilding SAS's formatting layer in R, one format specification at a time
betaselectr
Standardised coefficients for models where standardising everything is wrong — but the feed only links out
SSN2
Stream-network spatial models learning to run on data that no longer fits in memory
BiocManager
Bioconductor's installer, frozen at 1.30.x and tuned almost entirely through environment variables
See all dcurves alternatives → · See all TrialEmulation alternatives →
Recent activity from dcurves and TrialEmulation
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agoTrialEmulationDocumentation references to the archived parglm removed
- 7mo agoTrialEmulationparglm dependency dropped after CRAN archiving
- 9mo agoTrialEmulationTest fixes for updated testthat, plus link updates
- 9mo agoTrialEmulationCompatibility fixes ahead of testthat 3.3.0
- 9mo agodcurvesHTML5 documentation rebuild for CRAN
- 1y agoTrialEmulationTests updated for duckdb 1.3.0 sampling; R 4.1 now required
- 1y agoTrialEmulationTests updated for duckdb 1.2.0 sampling changes
- 2y agodcurvesbroom.helpers added to Suggests for gtsummary 2.0
- 3y agodcurvesNet interventions plots now show treat-all and treat-none by default
- 4y agodcurvestest_consequences() reports accuracy across thresholds
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between dcurves and TrialEmulation?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. dcurves and TrialEmulation 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 dcurves better than TrialEmulation?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. dcurves and TrialEmulation 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 dcurves?
Top dcurves alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "dcurves alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/dcurves for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to TrialEmulation?
Top TrialEmulation alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "TrialEmulation alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/trialemulation for the full list with editorial commentary on each.