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Comparison · Analytics
fasster vs geoarrow-r
A side-by-side editorial comparison of fasster and geoarrow-r — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
fasster vs geoarrow-r: at a glance
What is fasster?
fasster arrives as a fable-compatible state space model for switching seasonality.
fasster implements FASSTER, a state space model with a switching component in the measurement equation, aimed at series carrying several seasonal patterns and abrupt structural change. Version 0.2.0 is the first substantive release: a formula interface with trend(), season(), fourier(), ARMA() and xreg() plus the %S% switching and %?% conditional operators, and the full fable method set. Parameters come from a filtering-and-smoothing heuristic rather than full optimisation.
What is geoarrow-r?
geoarrow tracks the GeoArrow spec and otherwise just keeps compiling
geoarrow gives R zero-copy access to geospatial data in the Arrow columnar format, with conversions to and from sf and wk. The package is thin by design — most of the work lives in vendored copies of geoarrow-c and nanoarrow — and its release notes reflect that: the substantive one in the window implemented GeoArrow 0.2 specification features, and everything since has been compiler warnings and a test fixed for a new sf version.
fasster vs geoarrow-r: editorial side-by-side
fasster
0.0ANALYTICS
fasster arrives as a fable-compatible state space model for switching seasonality.
◆ Current state
fasster implements FASSTER, a state space model with a switching component in the measurement equation, aimed at series carrying several seasonal patterns and abrupt structural change. Version 0.2.0 is the first substantive release: a formula interface with trend(), season(), fourier(), ARMA() and xreg() plus the %S% switching and %?% conditional operators, and the full fable method set. Parameters come from a filtering-and-smoothing heuristic rather than full optimisation.
◆ Where it's heading
The package sat at a 2018 development version for over seven years, so the news is that it exists as a usable model at all. Implementing the whole fable contract — forecast(), refit(), stream(), interpolate(), components() — means it slots into an existing forecasting workflow instead of asking for its own. The heuristic estimator is the open question these entries leave unanswered.
◆ Prediction
The obvious next step is supplementing the heuristic parameter estimates with proper optimisation, though the two entries here give no direct signal on timing.
geoarrow-r
0.0ANALYTICS
geoarrow tracks the GeoArrow spec and otherwise just keeps compiling
◆ Current state
geoarrow gives R zero-copy access to geospatial data in the Arrow columnar format, with conversions to and from sf and wk. The package is thin by design — most of the work lives in vendored copies of geoarrow-c and nanoarrow — and its release notes reflect that: the substantive one in the window implemented GeoArrow 0.2 specification features, and everything since has been compiler warnings and a test fixed for a new sf version.
◆ Where it's heading
Development is downstream of two things the package does not control: the GeoArrow specification and the C libraries it vendors. When the spec added non-PROJJSON CRS types and spheroidal edge interpolations, the R package followed; when the geoarrow.box type appeared, it gained conversions to and from wk::rct(). Between those, releases exist to keep CRAN builds green. The type-selection work in 0.4.0 — letting callers force geoarrow.wkb output when converting from sf — is the only recent change driven by R-side ergonomics rather than upstream.
◆ Prediction
Given that every feature release so far has implemented a spec revision, the next one likely arrives when GeoArrow publishes its next set of extension types rather than on any schedule of its own.
Alternatives to fasster and geoarrow-r
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 fasster or geoarrow-r.
fastplyr
A fast dplyr stand-in that keeps finding new places to skip work entirely.
trias
Belgium's invasive-species indicator toolkit is in steady refinement, one plotting edge case at a time.
icesSAG
The ICES stock assessment client took upload away in 2024 and spent two years giving it back.
dggridR
A discrete global grid generator grew cell traversal and became a usable spatial index.
vegan
Community ecology's standard toolkit is retiring the functions a generation of scripts was built on.
See all fasster alternatives → · See all geoarrow-r alternatives →
Recent activity from fasster and geoarrow-r
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agogeoarrow-rgeoarrow 0.4.3
- 6mo agofassterFASSTER lands as a complete fable model ⚡
- 8mo agogeoarrow-rgeoarrow 0.4.1
- 10mo agogeoarrow-rgeoarrow lets callers choose the geometry type when converting from sf
- 1y agogeoarrow-rgeoarrow implements the GeoArrow 0.2 specification features
- 2y agogeoarrow-rgeoarrow 0.2.1
- 2y agogeoarrow-rLegacy geoarrow tagged before the rewrite
- 7y agofassterEarly development build
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fasster and geoarrow-r?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. fasster and geoarrow-r 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 fasster better than geoarrow-r?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. fasster and geoarrow-r 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 fasster?
Top fasster alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fasster alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fasster for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to geoarrow-r?
Top geoarrow-r alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "geoarrow-r alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/geoarrow-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.