metatools
SDTM supplemental-qualifier merging got sturdier, then the package went quiet for two years.
Comparison · Analytics
FedData vs nestcolor
A side-by-side editorial comparison of FedData and nestcolor — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
FedData vs nestcolor: at a glance
What is FedData?
FedData has spent two major versions migrating US federal geodata off R's retiring spatial stack.
FedData downloads and standardises US federal geospatial datasets — NLCD, NHD, NED, SSURGO, Daymet, GHCN, PAD-US, NASS — into consistent R objects. Two breaking majors define the current package: 3.0.0 moved returns to sf and raster and pulled data from cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs, and 4.0.0 finished the job by dropping sp and raster entirely for terra and sf. Recent releases are dataset refreshes, most recently PAD-US 4.0.
What is nestcolor?
A ggplot theme package for the NEST stack, effectively finished since its CRAN release.
nestcolor supplies a standard colour palette and ggplot2 theme so plots across the insightsengineering/NEST packages look consistent. Its CRAN release in January 2025 contained no functional change beyond declaring minimum dependency versions; everything before it is version bumps. The package does one small thing and appears to have finished doing it.
FedData vs nestcolor: editorial side-by-side
FedData
0.0ANALYTICS
FedData has spent two major versions migrating US federal geodata off R's retiring spatial stack.
◆ Current state
FedData downloads and standardises US federal geospatial datasets — NLCD, NHD, NED, SSURGO, Daymet, GHCN, PAD-US, NASS — into consistent R objects. Two breaking majors define the current package: 3.0.0 moved returns to sf and raster and pulled data from cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs, and 4.0.0 finished the job by dropping sp and raster entirely for terra and sf. Recent releases are dataset refreshes, most recently PAD-US 4.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The package tracks two moving targets at once: the R spatial stack, which it has now fully migrated onto terra and sf, and the federal agencies whose URLs, file naming and hosting keep shifting. With the dependency migration finished, releases have shrunk to single-dataset updates such as annual NLCD and PAD-US 4.0, which suggests the structural work is done and the ongoing cost is data-source maintenance.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued small releases pinned to new vintages of the underlying federal datasets, plus fixes when an agency moves or reformats a source; no further dependency-level upheaval is visible in these entries.
nestcolor
0.0ANALYTICS
A ggplot theme package for the NEST stack, effectively finished since its CRAN release.
◆ Current state
nestcolor supplies a standard colour palette and ggplot2 theme so plots across the insightsengineering/NEST packages look consistent. Its CRAN release in January 2025 contained no functional change beyond declaring minimum dependency versions; everything before it is version bumps. The package does one small thing and appears to have finished doing it.
◆ Where it's heading
There is no development arc to read here. The substantive content sits in the initial 2022 release — the colour palette, the NEST theme, tern registered as a downstream dependency — and later entries are workflow propagation from the organisation's shared CI templates.
◆ Prediction
A theme package with a settled palette has little reason to change; expect releases only when a dependency floor or CRAN policy forces one.
Alternatives to FedData and nestcolor
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 FedData or nestcolor.
marquee
marquee is filling in the typographic details — outlines, border types, real font metrics for underlines.
logrx
A clinical-script logger that stopped shipping after its 0.2 line, changelogs made of merged PRs.
lobstr
R's object inspector is losing its view of the internals as CRAN closes off the private C API.
GSODR
A weather-station data client that broke one return type to hand back distances instead of bare IDs.
giscoR
giscoR's 1.0 moved its dataset index into the cache, so new Eurostat releases arrive without a package update.
See all FedData alternatives → · See all nestcolor alternatives →
Recent activity from FedData and nestcolor
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1y agoFedDataget_padus() updated to PAD-US 4.0
- 1y agonestcolorCRAN release declaring minimum dependency versions
- 1y agoFedDataAnnual NLCD access added; get_nass() retired
- 2y agoFedDatasp and raster dropped; everything returns terra or sf ⚡
- 3y agoFedDataGHCN moves to https; NHD handles empty and odd geometries
- 3y agoFedDataAll raster writing moves to terra
- 3y agonestcolor2023_03_29
- 3y agonestcolor2022_10_13
- 3y agoFedDataVersion 3 rebuilds on sf and cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs ⚡
- 3y agonestcolor2022_08_16
- 4y agonestcolorFirst package: NEST colour palette and ggplot theme
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between FedData and nestcolor?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. FedData and nestcolor 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 FedData better than nestcolor?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. FedData and nestcolor 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 FedData?
Top FedData alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "FedData alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/feddata for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to nestcolor?
Top nestcolor alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "nestcolor alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/nestcolor for the full list with editorial commentary on each.