simlandr
Potential landscape tooling settling onto standard R generics after two rounds of renaming.
Comparison · Analytics
fastrg vs splines2
A side-by-side editorial comparison of fastrg and splines2 — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
fastrg vs splines2: at a glance
What is fastrg?
A fast random-graph sampler that spent 0.3.1 fixing what its parameters actually mean.
fastRG samples from generalized random dot product graphs — stochastic blockmodels, degree-corrected and overlapping variants, directed and undirected — in time proportional to the number of edges rather than nodes squared, which is what makes large sparse networks tractable. Since 0.3.1 the model is constructed and parameterised in one object, with sampling methods taking that object rather than re-specifying edge distribution at sample time.
What is splines2?
Spline bases built to interoperate: periodic B-splines and an nsk-compatible natural basis.
splines2 provides spline basis functions with their derivatives and integrals, in R and through an Rcpp interface. The 0.5.0 release in mid-2023 set the package's current surface; the four releases since are a correctness fix for natural cubic splines with one internal knot, a plotting argument, a compiler warning, and a documentation repair.
fastrg vs splines2: editorial side-by-side
fastrg
0.0ANALYTICS
A fast random-graph sampler that spent 0.3.1 fixing what its parameters actually mean.
◆ Current state
fastRG samples from generalized random dot product graphs — stochastic blockmodels, degree-corrected and overlapping variants, directed and undirected — in time proportional to the number of edges rather than nodes squared, which is what makes large sparse networks tractable. Since 0.3.1 the model is constructed and parameterised in one object, with sampling methods taking that object rather than re-specifying edge distribution at sample time.
◆ Where it's heading
The package's development has been about semantic correctness more than speed. The 0.3.1 release moved edge-distribution arguments to the constructors and reinterpreted the mixing matrix S under Bernoulli parameterisation; 0.3.2 then flipped the meaning of X and Y in directed blockmodels so outgoing and incoming factors match the edge convention, and made block sorting conditional rather than unconditional. Both are corrections to what returned values mean, not to how fast they arrive. The 2025 release is CRAN documentation linking only.
◆ Prediction
With parameterisation settled and only a documentation release since 2023, the package reads as feature-complete for its sampling families. Nothing in the entries points to additional model types being queued.
splines2
0.0ANALYTICS
Spline bases built to interoperate: periodic B-splines and an nsk-compatible natural basis.
◆ Current state
splines2 provides spline basis functions with their derivatives and integrals, in R and through an Rcpp interface. The 0.5.0 release in mid-2023 set the package's current surface; the four releases since are a correctness fix for natural cubic splines with one internal knot, a plotting argument, a compiler warning, and a documentation repair.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is interoperability rather than new mathematics. 0.5.0 added nsk() to match survival::nsk(), an H matrix for converting cubic B-splines produced elsewhere into this package's natural splines, and short aliases meant to be typed inside model formulas. Periodic B-splines were the one genuinely new basis, and its Rcpp knot-sequence handling needed a follow-up fix. Wenjie Wang maintains it alongside intsurv and reda.
◆ Prediction
The last four releases are all corrections, so the next one most likely continues that pattern; a further basis type would break a two-year run of consolidation.
Alternatives to fastrg and splines2
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 fastrg or splines2.
lavaanExtra
SEM reporting helpers converging on APA output, one CRAN resubmission at a time.
ibis.iSDM
A raster-to-terra migration is the only readable change in a feed of merge notes.
anyflights
A nycflights13 generator whose recent work is all about the data being right.
vinereg
Conditional density and log-likelihood fill out a vine copula regression package.
stringx
A drop-in string API for base R, kept alive by upstream check failures.
See all fastrg alternatives → · See all splines2 alternatives →
Recent activity from fastrg and splines2
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1y agofastrgDocumentation cross-linking fixes for CRAN
- 1y agosplines2Natural cubic splines fixed for a single internal knot
- 2y agosplines2C++20 constructor template warning suppressed
- 2y agosplines2plot() accepts a coefficient vector
- 2y agofastrgDirected blockmodel X and Y factors swapped to match edge direction
- 2y agosplines2Broken package-level documentation repaired
- 3y agosplines2Periodic B-splines, nsk(), and a basis conversion matrix ⚡
- 3y agosplines2Periodic M-spline knot sequence fixed in the Rcpp interface
- 4y agofastrgfastRG 0.3.1 ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fastrg and splines2?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. fastrg and splines2 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 fastrg better than splines2?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. fastrg and splines2 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 fastrg?
Top fastrg alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fastrg alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fastrg for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to splines2?
Top splines2 alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "splines2 alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/splines2 for the full list with editorial commentary on each.