tern.rbmi
Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.
Comparison · Analytics
geodist vs hdnom
A side-by-side editorial comparison of geodist and hdnom — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
geodist vs hdnom: at a glance
What is geodist?
geodist stays dependency-free and fast, and warns you when 'cheap' distances stop being honest.
geodist computes geodesic distances between coordinate pairs in C with no dependencies, offering several measures that trade accuracy for speed — including a 'cheap' approximation used by default. The API is small and largely finished; 0.1.0 added geodist_min() for nearest-match lookups and 0.1.1 is a compiler warning fix.
What is hdnom?
hdnom is in pure custodial mode, absorbing glmnet's changes so its users don't have to
hdnom builds nomograms and validation/calibration workflows for high-dimensional Cox survival models on top of glmnet, ncvreg and penalized. The package's own interface has been stable since the 6.0.0 refactor in 2019; every release since has been maintenance. The recent run is entirely about surviving glmnet's evolution — a lambda-selection rule argument, then a cox.ties argument pinning the old tie handling.
geodist vs hdnom: editorial side-by-side
geodist
0.0ANALYTICS
geodist stays dependency-free and fast, and warns you when 'cheap' distances stop being honest.
◆ Current state
geodist computes geodesic distances between coordinate pairs in C with no dependencies, offering several measures that trade accuracy for speed — including a 'cheap' approximation used by default. The API is small and largely finished; 0.1.0 added geodist_min() for nearest-match lookups and 0.1.1 is a compiler warning fix.
◆ Where it's heading
Development has been about making the speed-accuracy trade visible rather than hiding it. The 0.0.6 release added messages telling users to pick a different measure once the default cheap approximation is applied beyond 100km, where its error stops being negligible. Around that, the work is input handling — tibble support, better lon/lat column matching, vector inputs — and hardening the C code. It is a package that treats being small and correct as the feature.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued low-frequency maintenance: compiler warnings and geodesic source updates account for three of the last six releases, and the function surface has grown by only two entries in five years.
hdnom
5.0ANALYTICS
hdnom is in pure custodial mode, absorbing glmnet's changes so its users don't have to
◆ Current state
hdnom builds nomograms and validation/calibration workflows for high-dimensional Cox survival models on top of glmnet, ncvreg and penalized. The package's own interface has been stable since the 6.0.0 refactor in 2019; every release since has been maintenance. The recent run is entirely about surviving glmnet's evolution — a lambda-selection rule argument, then a cox.ties argument pinning the old tie handling.
◆ Where it's heading
The releases track two upstream pressures with no feature work of its own. glmnet is the larger one: its 4.1-9 change to how Cox cross-validation errors are normalized made lambda.1se select null models far more often, forcing hdnom to expose a rule argument and switch its examples to lambda.min. R-devel is the other, producing a steady trickle of strict-headers, deprecated-symbol and check-note fixes. The pattern is consistent — absorb the upstream change, default to whatever preserves existing behaviour, let users opt into the new one.
◆ Prediction
The cox.ties default is explicitly pinned to "breslow" to silence glmnet's migration warning, which is a deferral rather than a decision; expect a future release to flip that default to "efron" once glmnet completes the transition.
Alternatives to geodist and hdnom
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 geodist or hdnom.
tern.mmrm
An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.
ggmagnify
A single-purpose ggplot2 inset tool, refining the same three arguments.
symengine
An R symbolic-maths binding whose changelog is really the C++ core's release notes.
gtfstools
gtfstools stopped guarding its own object model and started accepting everyone else's.
quantities
The glue package that makes R carry units and uncertainty through the same calculation.
See all geodist alternatives → · See all hdnom alternatives →
Recent activity from geodist and hdnom
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 18d agohdnomhdnom 6.2.1
- 18d agohdnomhdnom 6.2.0 pins Cox tie handling ahead of glmnet's migration
- 1y agohdnomhdnom 6.1.0 exposes lambda selection after a glmnet normalization change
- 1y agogeodistgeodist 0.1.1 clears a clang warning in geodesic.c
- 1y agohdnomhdnom 6.0.4
- 2y agogeodistgeodist 0.1.0 adds geodist_min() for nearest matches
- 2y agohdnomhdnom 6.0.3
- 3y agohdnomhdnom 6.0.2
- 3y agogeodistgeodist 0.0.8 updates geodesic source, fixes clang warnings
- 5y agogeodistgeodist 0.0.7 improves lon/lat column matching and tibbles
- 5y agogeodistgeodist 0.0.6 warns when cheap distances exceed 100km
- 6y agogeodistgeodist 0.0.4 adds geodist_vec() for vector inputs
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between geodist and hdnom?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. hdnom is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), 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 geodist better than hdnom?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. hdnom is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), 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 geodist?
Top geodist alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "geodist alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/geodist-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to hdnom?
Top hdnom alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "hdnom alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hdnom for the full list with editorial commentary on each.