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vdiffr finished its job in 2021 and has been tracking compilers ever since.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
highr vs roxygen2
A side-by-side editorial comparison of highr and roxygen2 — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
highr vs roxygen2: at a glance
What is highr?
highr is finished software: one-line releases every year or two
highr does syntax highlighting for knitr output, and every release in this window is a single line of change. The most recent wraps hilight() output in xfun::raw_string() for nicer printing; before that, a rename of two LaTeX command macros and two bumps to the minimum R version. There is no feature work here at all.
What is roxygen2?
roxygen2 8.0 cut stringi out of the entire devtools dependency tree.
roxygen2 turns inline comments into R documentation and NAMESPACE files. The 8.0.0 release was as much about dependencies as features: dropping purrr, stringr and stringi means nothing in the devtools constellation pulls in stringi, long a persistent install obstacle on constrained Linux systems. 8.1.0 follows with markdown correctness work and cached link resolution.
highr vs roxygen2: editorial side-by-side
highr
0.0INFRA · APIS
highr is finished software: one-line releases every year or two
◆ Current state
highr does syntax highlighting for knitr output, and every release in this window is a single line of change. The most recent wraps hilight() output in xfun::raw_string() for nicer printing; before that, a rename of two LaTeX command macros and two bumps to the minimum R version. There is no feature work here at all.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a completed micro-package in the knitr ecosystem, maintained only to stay installable and consistent with its parent packages. Changes are triggered by knitr's needs or CRAN's requirements rather than by any plan of its own, and the gaps between releases run to years.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release whenever knitr or CRAN requires one, with a similarly single-line changelog.
roxygen2
2.5INFRA · APIS
roxygen2 8.0 cut stringi out of the entire devtools dependency tree.
◆ Current state
roxygen2 turns inline comments into R documentation and NAMESPACE files. The 8.0.0 release was as much about dependencies as features: dropping purrr, stringr and stringi means nothing in the devtools constellation pulls in stringi, long a persistent install obstacle on constrained Linux systems. 8.1.0 follows with markdown correctness work and cached link resolution.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is investing in the documentation toolchain beneath it — a new rdtools package supplies cached indexes so link targets and inherited Rd topics resolve without repeated help() lookups. Running alongside is steady correction of markdown handling, where multibyte characters inside Rd tags had been corrupting everything that followed.
◆ Prediction
Expect more Rd processing to migrate into rdtools, and further link-resolution changes now that all generated links share a single code path.
Alternatives to highr and roxygen2
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 highr or roxygen2.
rsconnect
The deployment client is being rebuilt around credentials it never has to store.
pkgbuild
A package whose release calendar is written by whoever ships the next Rtools.
DNSControl
DNSControl v5 is feature complete and counting down to an August ship date
git2r
git2r stopped vendoring libgit2 and now expects it on the system
Casdoor
casdoor ships several times a day, mostly tightening organization boundaries.
See all highr alternatives → · See all roxygen2 alternatives →
Recent activity from highr and roxygen2
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 8d agoroxygen2roxygen2 8.1.0 resolves links via cached rdtools indexes
- 3mo agoroxygen2roxygen2 8.0.0 drops stringi from the devtools dependency chain ⚡
- 5mo agohighrhilight() output wrapped in raw_string()
- 11mo agoroxygen2roxygen2 7.3.3 auto-resolves markdown links to external topics
- 2y agoroxygen2roxygen2 7.3.2 disables cli hyperlinks in included Rmd
- 2y agohighrLaTeX macros renamed to \hlsng and \hldef
- 2y agoroxygen2roxygen2 7.3.1 fixes @importFrom for quoted non-syntactic names
- 2y agoroxygen2roxygen2 7.3.0 reports S3 methods missing @export
- 3y agohighrMinimum R version raised to 3.3.0
- 5y agohighrmarkdown added to Suggests for knitr
- 5y agohighrMinimum R version raised to 3.2.3
- 8y agohighrInternal pandoc LaTeX command table added
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between highr and roxygen2?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. roxygen2 is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 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 highr better than roxygen2?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. roxygen2 is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to highr?
Top highr alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "highr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/highr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to roxygen2?
Top roxygen2 alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "roxygen2 alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/roxygen2 for the full list with editorial commentary on each.