n2kanalysis
n2kanalysis has spent eight years wiring INLA models to an S3 bucket.
Comparison · Analytics
ichimoku vs rncl
A side-by-side editorial comparison of ichimoku and rncl — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
ichimoku vs rncl: at a glance
What is ichimoku?
A cloud-chart package quietly swapping its dependencies for its maintainer's own libraries.
ichimoku implements Ichimoku Kinko Hyo cloud charts, strategy backtesting and an OANDA data interface for R. Recent releases are almost entirely plumbing: 1.5.7 drops RcppSimdJson in favor of secretbase for JSON parsing, following earlier releases that moved hashing to secretbase and raised the nanonext and mirai floors. The charting and strategy surface has been stable since the 1.5.0 line.
What is rncl?
A phylogenetics parser on life support, shipping only what CRAN's compilers demand.
rncl wraps the Nexus Class Library so R can read Newick and NEXUS tree files. Every release since 2016 has been custodial: 0.8.9 exists solely to pull upstream NCL changes so the bundled C++ compiles under the C++20 standard. No user-facing function has changed in close to a decade.
ichimoku vs rncl: editorial side-by-side
ichimoku
0.0ANALYTICS
A cloud-chart package quietly swapping its dependencies for its maintainer's own libraries.
◆ Current state
ichimoku implements Ichimoku Kinko Hyo cloud charts, strategy backtesting and an OANDA data interface for R. Recent releases are almost entirely plumbing: 1.5.7 drops RcppSimdJson in favor of secretbase for JSON parsing, following earlier releases that moved hashing to secretbase and raised the nanonext and mirai floors. The charting and strategy surface has been stable since the 1.5.0 line.
◆ Where it's heading
The visible arc is consolidation onto the maintainer's own package family — secretbase for hashing and now JSON, nanonext and mirai for concurrency — which steadily removes third-party and Rcpp-based dependencies from the install chain. Feature work is sporadic and narrow when it comes: a faster POSIXct formatter exported as a utility, a multi-session option for the Shiny app, and a fix for asymmetric strategies that failed to emit a final entry signal.
◆ Prediction
Expect further dependency consolidation as the sibling packages gain capabilities, with ichimoku adopting them shortly after release rather than shipping new charting features.
rncl
2.5ANALYTICS
A phylogenetics parser on life support, shipping only what CRAN's compilers demand.
◆ Current state
rncl wraps the Nexus Class Library so R can read Newick and NEXUS tree files. Every release since 2016 has been custodial: 0.8.9 exists solely to pull upstream NCL changes so the bundled C++ compiles under the C++20 standard. No user-facing function has changed in close to a decade.
◆ Where it's heading
The release cadence tracks toolchain deprecations rather than user demand: gcc 12 removing binary_function in 2022, a deprecated Rcpp call in 2025, C++20 in 2026. The package is maintained as a stable parsing dependency for phylogenetics tooling, and the goal visible in these entries is keeping it installable, not extending it.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release only when a compiler or CRAN policy change breaks the build again; nothing in these entries points to new parsing features.
Alternatives to ichimoku and rncl
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 ichimoku or rncl.
n1qn1c
A Fortran-descended optimizer got thread-safe, then found two flags that never worked.
ggstatsplot
ggstatsplot reached 1.0 by adding tests, having outsourced its statistics years ago.
collapse
collapse got a JSS paper and a 7x fmean speedup in the same release.
gtsummary
gtsummary is quietly rebuilding itself around analysis results data, one table verb at a time.
broadcast
broadcast is filling in NumPy-style array broadcasting for R, operator by operator.
See all ichimoku alternatives → · See all rncl alternatives →
Recent activity from ichimoku and rncl
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 15d agornclNCL sources refreshed for C++20 compilation
- 2mo agoichimokuJSON parsing moves from RcppSimdJson to secretbase
- 8mo agornclDeprecated Rcpp call removed in maintenance release
- 1y agoichimokuFaster POSIXct formatting exported as a utility
- 1y agoichimokuMultiple concurrent sessions in the OANDA Shiny app
- 1y agoichimokuAsymmetric strategies now emit their final entry signal
- 2y agoichimokusecretbase floor raised to 1.0.0
- 2y agoichimokuArchive verification reverts to SHA256
- 4y agornclBuild fixed for gcc 12 and clang 14
- 6y agornclMaintenance release clearing CRAN check warnings
- 8y agornclCRAN check notes and warnings cleared
- 9y agornclSingleton removal moves to C++ for a 3x speedup
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ichimoku and rncl?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. rncl 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 ichimoku better than rncl?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. rncl 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 Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to ichimoku?
Top ichimoku alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ichimoku alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ichimoku for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to rncl?
Top rncl alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rncl alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rncl-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.