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incase vs nswgeo

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

incase vs nswgeo: at a glance

Featureincasenswgeo
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesdata-wrangling, recoding, tidyverse, api-deprecationgeospatial, australia, public-health, reference-data
Last editorial update51m ago3h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is incase?

A safer case_when that keeps hardening its guarantees while realigning to tidyverse naming.

incase supplies in_case(), switch_case(), grep_case() and fn_case() as vectorised recoding functions in the dplyr::case_when idiom, with _fct and _list variants that return factors or lists instead of forcing atomic type conversion. The 0.4.0 release deprecates the undotted preserve, default and ordered arguments in favour of dotted forms, starting a removal clock, and adds .exhaustive to error on unmatched inputs.

Read the full incase trajectory →

What is nswgeo?

NSW boundary data for R, refreshed as the official sources move

nswgeo packages New South Wales geographic boundaries for R — suburbs, postcodes, local government areas, Primary Health Networks and Local Health Districts — as ready-to-plot sf datasets. The 0.6.0 release refreshes nearly all of them against new upstream sources, moving postcodes to 2021 ABS boundaries and taking LHD boundaries from a new official feed. It is maintained by cidm-ph alongside the mapping packages that consume it, including ggmapinset.

Read the full nswgeo trajectory →

incase vs nswgeo: editorial side-by-side

I
incase
ANALYTICS
0.0

A safer case_when that keeps hardening its guarantees while realigning to tidyverse naming.

◆ Current state

incase supplies in_case(), switch_case(), grep_case() and fn_case() as vectorised recoding functions in the dplyr::case_when idiom, with _fct and _list variants that return factors or lists instead of forcing atomic type conversion. The 0.4.0 release deprecates the undotted preserve, default and ordered arguments in favour of dotted forms, starting a removal clock, and adds .exhaustive to error on unmatched inputs.

◆ Where it's heading

The arc is consistently toward catching recoding mistakes at the call site rather than letting them pass silently. Early releases broadened how a match can be expressed — pattern matching, function application, factor and list returns. Recent work has shifted to guarantees about the result: correct factor level ordering relative to .default, and now an exhaustiveness check. Notably 0.4.0 reverses the 0.3.2 decision to accept arguments with or without dots, trading that flexibility for namespace safety against user-supplied case names.

◆ Prediction

The deprecation warnings introduced in 0.4.0 point to a follow-up release that removes the undotted arguments outright. Whether .exhaustive eventually becomes the default is unclear from these entries.

N
nswgeo
ANALYTICS
0.0

NSW boundary data for R, refreshed as the official sources move

◆ Current state

nswgeo packages New South Wales geographic boundaries for R — suburbs, postcodes, local government areas, Primary Health Networks and Local Health Districts — as ready-to-plot sf datasets. The 0.6.0 release refreshes nearly all of them against new upstream sources, moving postcodes to 2021 ABS boundaries and taking LHD boundaries from a new official feed. It is maintained by cidm-ph alongside the mapping packages that consume it, including ggmapinset.

◆ Where it's heading

Every release is dictated by an upstream release calendar rather than a roadmap: the 2023 ASGS, then 2024, then the 2021 ABS postcode boundaries and the new LHD source. That makes field-name churn the package's defining hazard — LGA_NAME_2021 to LGA_NAME_2023 to LGA_NAME_2024, and now lhd_name carrying a Local Health District suffix. The maintainer's habit of registering compatibility aliases through cartographer shows an awareness that these renames break downstream code silently.

◆ Prediction

Expect the next release to track the following ASGS edition with another round of field renames, and any new content to stay in the health-geography area the package's users work in.

Alternatives to incase and nswgeo

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 incase or nswgeo.

See all incase alternatives → · See all nswgeo alternatives →

Recent activity from incase and nswgeo

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

  1. 4mo agonswgeoSuburb, postcode, PHN and LHD boundaries all refreshed
  2. 6mo agonswgeonswgeo 0.5.1
  3. 11mo agoincaseDotted arguments and an .exhaustive matching check
  4. 1y agonswgeoUpdated to the 2024 ASGS release
  5. 2y agonswgeoTerritories, PHN maps and the outline() helper added
  6. 2y agoincaseDotted and undotted arguments both accepted
  7. 5y agoincaseFix NULL return when no condition matches
  8. 5y agoincaseFactor and list return families arrive
  9. 5y agoincaseDrop unused stats import to clear a check NOTE
  10. 5y agoincasePattern and function-based matching families added

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between incase and nswgeo?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. incase and nswgeo 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 incase better than nswgeo?

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

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

What are the best alternatives to nswgeo?

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