STACAS
Single-cell batch correction that learned to use cell labels, then spent three releases chasing Seurat.
Comparison · Analytics
delaporte vs robma
A side-by-side editorial comparison of delaporte and robma — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
delaporte vs robma: at a glance
What is delaporte?
A Fortran-backed Delaporte distribution package where every release is compiler and CRAN weather.
Delaporte supplies the density, distribution, quantile and random-generation functions for the Delaporte distribution — a Poisson-negative-binomial convolution used for overdispersed count data — implemented in Fortran and called through C. The only user-facing addition in the visible history is explicit OpenMP thread control via getDelapThreads() and setDelapThreads() at 8.2.0.
What is robma?
RoBMA 4.0 tears out its own constructor surface and rebuilds on one class hierarchy
RoBMA fits robust Bayesian model-averaged meta-analyses that adjust for publication bias. The 3.x line grew by accretion: separate constructors for each model family (RoBMA.reg, NoBMA, BiBMA and their .reg variants), a spike-and-slab algorithm in 3.3.0 that made estimation fast enough to matter, then a steady stream of post-estimation tooling gated on that algorithm — heterogeneity summaries, residuals, funnel plots, z-curve conversion, predict, extract, pooled and adjusted effects. Version 4.0.0 in May 2026 collapses all of it into a unified brma class hierarchy.
delaporte vs robma: editorial side-by-side
delaporte
0.0ANALYTICS
A Fortran-backed Delaporte distribution package where every release is compiler and CRAN weather.
◆ Current state
Delaporte supplies the density, distribution, quantile and random-generation functions for the Delaporte distribution — a Poisson-negative-binomial convolution used for overdispersed count data — implemented in Fortran and called through C. The only user-facing addition in the visible history is explicit OpenMP thread control via getDelapThreads() and setDelapThreads() at 8.2.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The maintenance burden here is portability, not statistics. Recent entries track a Fortran suffix change for Intel compiler compatibility, architecture-specific test tolerances, type-safety corrections on values crossing the C-to-Fortran boundary, and a thread-count variable relocated from R options to an environment variable to follow an upstream R commit. The distribution functions themselves are settled; what changes is how the compiled code is built and checked across CRAN's platform matrix.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to follow another CRAN toolchain or Writing R Extensions policy change, as the last several have. Two of the four visible entries carry no notes at all, so this feed will keep understating what actually shipped.
robma
0.0ANALYTICS
RoBMA 4.0 tears out its own constructor surface and rebuilds on one class hierarchy
◆ Current state
RoBMA fits robust Bayesian model-averaged meta-analyses that adjust for publication bias. The 3.x line grew by accretion: separate constructors for each model family (RoBMA.reg, NoBMA, BiBMA and their .reg variants), a spike-and-slab algorithm in 3.3.0 that made estimation fast enough to matter, then a steady stream of post-estimation tooling gated on that algorithm — heterogeneity summaries, residuals, funnel plots, z-curve conversion, predict, extract, pooled and adjusted effects. Version 4.0.0 in May 2026 collapses all of it into a unified brma class hierarchy.
◆ Where it's heading
The 3.x series solved the modeling problem and left an interface problem behind: a caller had to know which of six constructors matched their data type, and argument names differed across them. 4.0.0 resolves that by making the model family a set of arguments rather than a function name, and by standardizing input naming on metafor-style conventions. It shipped one day after BayesTools 0.3.0, the author's own upstream infrastructure package, whose new standardization and prior-transformation machinery this rewrite depends on.
◆ Prediction
A rewrite this wide usually needs a follow-up, so expect 4.0.x patches addressing migration gaps as users hit the removed constructors and renamed arguments.
Alternatives to delaporte and robma
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 delaporte or robma.
ggtrace
A debugger for ggplot2's internals, hardening its grip as the internals it traces keep moving.
kde1d
A univariate density estimator that added zero-inflated data and reopened its C++ API to do it.
svines
Stationary vine copulas for time series, released in lockstep with the rest of Nagler's vine stack.
gghighlight
A single-purpose ggplot2 extension that has spent six years tracking ggplot2 instead of growing.
rtrek
A Star Trek data package that became a Memory Alpha web client and has been patching scrapers ever since.
See all delaporte alternatives → · See all robma alternatives →
Recent activity from delaporte and robma
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3mo agorobmaUnifies six model constructors into one brma class hierarchy ⚡
- 8mo agorobmaRoBMA 3.6.1
- 11mo agorobmaRoBMA 3.6.0
- 1y agorobmaRoBMA 3.5.1
- 1y agodelaporteThread limit moves to an environment variable; Fortran type checks tightened
- 1y agorobmaRoBMA 3.5.0
- 1y agorobmaRoBMA 3.4.0
- 3y agodelaporteExplicit OpenMP thread control functions added
- 3y agodelaporteCRAN release 8.1.1
- 3y agodelaporteCRAN release 8.1.0
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between delaporte and robma?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. delaporte and robma 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 delaporte better than robma?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. delaporte and robma 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 delaporte?
Top delaporte alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "delaporte alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/delaporte for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to robma?
Top robma alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "robma alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/robma for the full list with editorial commentary on each.