broom.helpers
After eleven quiet months, the tidier under gtsummary is back to absorbing model classes.
Comparison · Analytics
Distributions.jl vs ggquiver
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Distributions.jl and ggquiver — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Distributions.jl vs ggquiver: at a glance
What is Distributions.jl?
Julia's distribution library keeps filing down the edges where sampling meets array types
Distributions.jl ships small, frequent releases against a large and settled API surface. The newest release accepts any AbstractVecOrMat when sampling from an MvNormal, closing a reported case where rand! ran much slower for an AbstractMatrix than for a plain Matrix. Around it sits the usual mix of per-distribution correctness fixes, fitting support such as sufficient statistics and MLE for Chi and Chisq, and dependency pruning.
What is ggquiver?
ggquiver is awake again, fixing arrow scaling that quietly misread irregular data.
A small ggplot2 extension for quiver and vector-field plots. The 0.3.x line in late 2021 made arrows behave outside plain Cartesian coordinates; after a four-year gap, 0.4.0 made them honour scale transformations and exposed grid::arrow() styling. 0.5.0 continues in correctness: automatic vecsize grid detection no longer rescales arrows wrongly on irregularly spaced data like GPS coordinates, an undetectable grid warns rather than errors, and legend keys now show an arrowhead.
Distributions.jl vs ggquiver: editorial side-by-side
Distributions.jl
5.0ANALYTICS
Julia's distribution library keeps filing down the edges where sampling meets array types
◆ Current state
Distributions.jl ships small, frequent releases against a large and settled API surface. The newest release accepts any AbstractVecOrMat when sampling from an MvNormal, closing a reported case where rand! ran much slower for an AbstractMatrix than for a plain Matrix. Around it sits the usual mix of per-distribution correctness fixes, fitting support such as sufficient statistics and MLE for Chi and Chisq, and dependency pruning.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc is consolidation rather than expansion, and this release is a clean example: the fix is not a new distribution but a signature loosened so the library behaves the same whatever array type callers hand it. Together with earlier sparsity tracing through constructors and looser MvNormal type aliases, the direction is a package that composes predictably with the rest of the Julia numerical stack instead of one that grows new surface.
◆ Prediction
Expect the same cadence of per-distribution fixes and fitting-method additions, with further signature loosening where concrete array types are still assumed. Nothing in these entries signals a major version or API break.
ggquiver
2.5ANALYTICS
ggquiver is awake again, fixing arrow scaling that quietly misread irregular data.
◆ Current state
A small ggplot2 extension for quiver and vector-field plots. The 0.3.x line in late 2021 made arrows behave outside plain Cartesian coordinates; after a four-year gap, 0.4.0 made them honour scale transformations and exposed grid::arrow() styling. 0.5.0 continues in correctness: automatic vecsize grid detection no longer rescales arrows wrongly on irregularly spaced data like GPS coordinates, an undetectable grid warns rather than errors, and legend keys now show an arrowhead.
◆ Where it's heading
The consistent theme across both eras is deferring to ggplot2 rather than drawing on top of it — coordinate systems first, then scale transformations, then arrow styling handed to grid, and now the automatic sizing heuristic itself. The two 0.4.0/0.5.0 releases inside seven months suggest the four-year gap was dormancy rather than abandonment, and the work has shifted from integration gaps to the package's own inference: 0.5.0 is the first release to treat automatic grid detection as something that can be wrong rather than merely absent. The changelog remains entirely correctness and integration; there is still no sign of new plot types.
◆ Prediction
The entries support a narrow read: further releases will likely keep hardening vecsize inference and closing ggplot2 integration gaps as users report them. Two releases in seven months hint the cadence has resumed, but one gap of four years makes that weak evidence.
Alternatives to Distributions.jl and ggquiver
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 Distributions.jl or ggquiver.
OpenHouse
OpenHouse starts adding per-column defaults while still closing silent-failure holes.
Power BI
Power BI's monthly grind: authoring defaults, DAX documentation, and mobile finally catching up.
vecvec
A lazy vector container keeps closing the gaps where it quietly materialised anyway.
haze
Mesh interpolation drops its custom fork dependency and sheds weight.
scimesh
A mesh renderer grows a scene graph and an exit route into glTF.
See all Distributions.jl alternatives → · See all ggquiver alternatives →
Recent activity from Distributions.jl and ggquiver
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoggquiverArrow scaling fixed for irregular grids; legend keys gain arrowheads
- 1d agoDistributions.jlMvNormal sampling accepts any AbstractVecOrMat, closing a rand! slowdown
- 25d agoDistributions.jlLogitNormal comment fix and doc typo cleanup
- 1mo agoDistributions.jlLooser MvNormal and MvNormalCanon type aliases
- 1mo agoDistributions.jlTruncated Chernoff quantile and sparsity tracing fixes
- 2mo agoDistributions.jlSparsity tracing works through distribution constructors
- 2mo agoDistributions.jlStatsFuns 2 upgrade and CI action bumps
- 6mo agoggquiverArrows respect scale transformations and grid arrow styling
- 4y agoggquiverArrow scaling and centered-arrow angle fixes
- 4y agoggquiverFix for resized vectors via vecsize
- 4y agoggquiverNon-Cartesian coordinates and ggmap backgrounds supported
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Distributions.jl and ggquiver?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Distributions.jl is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Distributions.jl better than ggquiver?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Distributions.jl is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Distributions.jl?
Top Distributions.jl alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Distributions.jl alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/distributions-jl for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ggquiver?
Top ggquiver alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ggquiver alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ggquiver for the full list with editorial commentary on each.