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Comparison · Infra & APIs

ggh4x vs tectonicr

A side-by-side editorial comparison of ggh4x and tectonicr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:ggplot2

ggh4x vs tectonicr: at a glance

Featureggh4xtectonicr
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesggplot2, data-visualization, facets, deprecationgeophysics, stress-field, circular-statistics, plate-tectonics
Last editorial update1h ago2h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is ggh4x?

Handed its axis and legend guides to ggplot2 and legendry, and kept the facets

ggh4x is a set of ggplot2 extensions — nested and manual facets, per-facet scales, forced panel sizes, and statistics such as stat_difference() and stat_rle(). Its guide functions, once a substantial part of the package, are deprecated: 0.3.0 redirected users to ggplot2's own guide arguments and to the legendry package, and 0.3.1 made the deprecated functions return plain equivalents. What remains as this package's own territory is facetting and panel layout.

Read the full ggh4x trajectory →

What is tectonicr?

Stress-field analysis tracks the 2025 World Stress Map and keeps adding plotting shortcuts.

tectonicr analyses the orientation of maximum horizontal stress, comparing observed azimuths against those predicted by plate motion in a plate-of-rotation reference frame. Version 0.4.7 added support for the 2025 World Stress Map release and made the version selectable at download; 0.4.8 followed with new summary statistics for axial data, ggplot2 geoms for plotting directions, and a faster kappa estimator.

Read the full tectonicr trajectory →

ggh4x vs tectonicr: editorial side-by-side

G
ggh4x
INFRA · APIS
0.0

Handed its axis and legend guides to ggplot2 and legendry, and kept the facets

◆ Current state

ggh4x is a set of ggplot2 extensions — nested and manual facets, per-facet scales, forced panel sizes, and statistics such as stat_difference() and stat_rle(). Its guide functions, once a substantial part of the package, are deprecated: 0.3.0 redirected users to ggplot2's own guide arguments and to the legendry package, and 0.3.1 made the deprecated functions return plain equivalents. What remains as this package's own territory is facetting and panel layout.

◆ Where it's heading

The handover was signalled well in advance. Version 0.2.5 set the guides' lifecycle to 'questioning' and said outright they might migrate to a new package once ggplot2 overhauled its guide system, and 0.3.0 executed that eighteen months later. Much of the rest of the changelog is anticipatory compatibility work for upcoming ggplot2 releases, the standing cost of being an extension package. Releases carry playful codenames that say nothing about their contents.

◆ Prediction

The deprecated guide functions are scheduled for removal in the next non-hotfix release, so expect that next; continued work should concentrate on facets and panel sizing, the areas neither ggplot2 nor legendry has absorbed.

T
tectonicr
INFRA · APIS
0.0

Stress-field analysis tracks the 2025 World Stress Map and keeps adding plotting shortcuts.

◆ Current state

tectonicr analyses the orientation of maximum horizontal stress, comparing observed azimuths against those predicted by plate motion in a plate-of-rotation reference frame. Version 0.4.7 added support for the 2025 World Stress Map release and made the version selectable at download; 0.4.8 followed with new summary statistics for axial data, ggplot2 geoms for plotting directions, and a faster kappa estimator.

◆ Where it's heading

The package is maturing along two axes at once. On the statistics side the circular methods keep getting corrected and accelerated, with a major fix to est.kappa() for doubling angles before treating them as directional data and a faster approximation replacing the maximum likelihood path by default. On the usability side the additions are convenience wrappers, data2PoR() and the geom_azimuth pair, which is what a package does once its core methods stop moving. A sign convention for deviation was also flipped, which quietly changes existing results.

◆ Prediction

Expect the convenience layer to keep growing around a stable core, and the next substantive release to track whatever the World Stress Map publishes after 2025.

Alternatives to ggh4x and tectonicr

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 ggh4x or tectonicr.

See all ggh4x alternatives → · See all tectonicr alternatives →

Recent activity from ggh4x and tectonicr

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 8mo agotectonicrggplot2 azimuth geoms and axial summary statistics added
  2. 1y agoggh4xDeprecated guides now return plain ggplot2 equivalents
  3. 1y agotectonicrWorld Stress Map 2025 supported with selectable version
  4. 1y agotectonicrSpatial interpolation performance improved
  5. 1y agoggh4xGuide functions deprecated in favour of ggplot2 and legendry
  6. 2y agotectonicrWeighting powers added to spatial interpolation
  7. 2y agoggh4xCRAN note fix and two facet bug fixes
  8. 2y agoggh4xAnticipatory changes for ggplot2 3.5.0
  9. 2y agotectonicrBootstrap dispersion statistics ahead of CRAN submission
  10. 3y agoggh4xGuides marked 'questioning'; render_empty and panel-area sizing
  11. 3y agoggh4xSemi-discrete manual scales and facet whitespace handling

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ggh4x and tectonicr?

Both compete on the same themes — ggplot2 — within Infra & APIs. ggh4x and tectonicr 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 ggh4x better than tectonicr?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ggh4x and tectonicr 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 ggh4x?

Top ggh4x alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ggh4x alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ggh4x for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to tectonicr?

Top tectonicr alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "tectonicr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tectonicr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.