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Comparison · Infra & APIs
fdacluster vs forestploter
A side-by-side editorial comparison of fdacluster and forestploter — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
fdacluster vs forestploter: at a glance
What is fdacluster?
Functional data clustering grew from one algorithm into a comparable suite
fdacluster clusters functional data while separating amplitude from phase variation, aligning curves as part of the clustering rather than before it. The algorithm set covers k-means, hierarchical clustering and DBSCAN, all producing a common caps result object so runs can be compared directly. Version 0.4.0 tightened the interface with is_domain_interval and transformation arguments describing the input data, added compatibility checking between incompatible option combinations, and split the L2 and normalized L2 distances into separate C++ classes to enforce that plain L2 cannot be combined with dilation or affine warping it is not invariant to.
What is forestploter?
A forest plot package that keeps handing users control of one more graphical detail.
forestploter draws forest plots where the layout is driven by the data frame itself, so text columns and confidence intervals sit in the same grid. The theme function has become the package's centre of gravity: it now controls graphical parameters for titles, legends, axis, arrow labels, footnotes, and reference lines, with multi-column and row-order legend controls added most recently. Two releases shipped nine minutes apart in April 2026 after a two-year gap, deprecating some theme parameters, removing inter-cell gaps, and improving tick breaks.
fdacluster vs forestploter: editorial side-by-side
fdacluster
0.0INFRA · APIS
Functional data clustering grew from one algorithm into a comparable suite
◆ Current state
fdacluster clusters functional data while separating amplitude from phase variation, aligning curves as part of the clustering rather than before it. The algorithm set covers k-means, hierarchical clustering and DBSCAN, all producing a common caps result object so runs can be compared directly. Version 0.4.0 tightened the interface with is_domain_interval and transformation arguments describing the input data, added compatibility checking between incompatible option combinations, and split the L2 and normalized L2 distances into separate C++ classes to enforce that plain L2 cannot be combined with dilation or affine warping it is not invariant to.
◆ Where it's heading
The trajectory runs from method implementation toward guardrails and portability. Early releases added capability; recent ones prevent misuse and reduce weight - dplyr, forcats, tidyr and purrr removed in 0.4.0, furrr swapped for future.apply - while 0.4.2 is entirely C++ correctness, replacing Armadillo's whole-object finiteness check with scalar std::isfinite and fixing an integer overflow in linear index computation that broke large datasets. Cadence is roughly one release a year.
◆ Prediction
Given that the last two releases were dependency reduction and numerical correctness rather than method work, expect the next to continue in that vein unless a new clustering algorithm is contributed.
forestploter
0.0INFRA · APIS
A forest plot package that keeps handing users control of one more graphical detail.
◆ Current state
forestploter draws forest plots where the layout is driven by the data frame itself, so text columns and confidence intervals sit in the same grid. The theme function has become the package's centre of gravity: it now controls graphical parameters for titles, legends, axis, arrow labels, footnotes, and reference lines, with multi-column and row-order legend controls added most recently. Two releases shipped nine minutes apart in April 2026 after a two-year gap, deprecating some theme parameters, removing inter-cell gaps, and improving tick breaks.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction has been consistent for four years: whatever a user might want to restyle eventually becomes an argument. Point size stopped being transformed, cell height adjustment was removed as unwanted, legends gained size, column, and fill-order control, and vertical lines learned to extend the full plot height and to draw beneath the whiskers. The one structural move was 1.1.0, which let callers supply their own confidence-interval and summary drawing functions — turning a fixed renderer into an extensible one. Everything since has been the arguments that extensibility did not cover.
◆ Prediction
The latest release deprecates theme parameters rather than adding them, which suggests the next one consolidates the theme surface that has grown for four years rather than extending it further.
Alternatives to fdacluster and forestploter
Other Infra & APIs 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 fdacluster or forestploter.
WPML
WPML made machine translation the default, and its point releases keep chasing WordPress and page builders.
ggInterval
Interval-valued data plotting, spending 2026 making its function names and examples survive CRAN.
rgm
A microbiome network model that got itself un-archived by deleting the dependency that killed it.
contagionchannels
Three releases in ten days, every one of them a CRAN reviewer's correction rather than a code change.
tidyaudit
Pipeline provenance for tidyverse workflows, recording what changed at each step without keeping the data.
See all fdacluster alternatives → · See all forestploter alternatives →
Recent activity from fdacluster and forestploter
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3mo agoforestploterTheme parameters deprecated; cell gaps removed, ticks improved
- 3mo agoforestploterMulti-column legends and full-height vertical lines
- 7mo agofdaclusterInteger overflow fixed for large datasets, C++ finiteness checks corrected
- 1y agofdaclusterParallel worker setup and an acronym correction
- 1y agofdaclusterInput description arguments and enforced distance-warping compatibility
- 2y agoforestploterFull graphical control over titles, legends, axis and footnotes
- 2y agoforestploterTick digit calculation improved; automatic cell height removed
- 3y agofdaclusterMedian centroids and centroids defined on unioned grids
- 3y agofdaclusterNamespace notation and optional dependency guards
- 3y agofdaclusterHierarchical clustering, DBSCAN and a shared result class arrive together ⚡
- 3y agoforestploterCustom CI and summary drawing functions; boxplots inside the plot
- 3y agoforestploterArbitrary grobs and math symbols can be placed in cells
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fdacluster and forestploter?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Infra & APIs. fdacluster and forestploter 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 fdacluster better than forestploter?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. fdacluster and forestploter 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to fdacluster?
Top fdacluster alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fdacluster alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fdacluster for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to forestploter?
Top forestploter alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "forestploter alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/forestploter for the full list with editorial commentary on each.