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Comparison · Infra & APIs

inlabru vs vcfR

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

Shared themes:r-package

inlabru vs vcfR: at a glance

FeatureinlabruvcfR
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score2.50.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesbayesian-modelling, spatial-statistics, r-package, api-consolidationgenomics, vcf, population-genetics, r-package
Last editorial update8h ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is inlabru?

A Bayesian spatial modelling package rebuilding its foundations one breaking release at a time

inlabru wraps INLA for spatial, point-process and latent-Gaussian models in R. It is mid-modernisation: since 2.12.0 cut the sp stack, each release has renamed part of the public surface, standardised how external packages attach custom mappers, or replaced internal machinery. 2.15.0 is the latest step, pairing a new predictor evaluation and linearisation implementation with broom's tidy(), glance() and augment() methods and four non-zero-truncated observation families.

Read the full inlabru trajectory →

What is vcfR?

A genomics workhorse whose visible release feed stops dead in mid-2020.

vcfR reads, manipulates and visualises VCF files, the standard format for genomic variant calls, and bridges them into R population-genetics classes such as genind, genlight and DNAbin. The three entries available here all come from the first half of 2020 and stop there, so the feed shows the state of the package six years ago rather than today.

Read the full vcfR trajectory →

inlabru vs vcfR: editorial side-by-side

I
inlabru
INFRA · APIS
2.5

A Bayesian spatial modelling package rebuilding its foundations one breaking release at a time

◆ Current state

inlabru wraps INLA for spatial, point-process and latent-Gaussian models in R. It is mid-modernisation: since 2.12.0 cut the sp stack, each release has renamed part of the public surface, standardised how external packages attach custom mappers, or replaced internal machinery. 2.15.0 is the latest step, pairing a new predictor evaluation and linearisation implementation with broom's tidy(), glance() and augment() methods and four non-zero-truncated observation families.

◆ Where it's heading

The arc is consolidation of the extension surface rather than expansion of the model catalogue. Every release adds mappers or families with one hand and removes a dependency, a re-export or a deprecated path with the other — plyr in 2.15.0, fmesher's Depends entry in 2.14.1, sp and ggmap in 2.12.0. The compatibility flag bru_compat_pre_2_14_enable and the temporary fm_int/fm_pixels re-exports show a maintainer sequencing breaks across releases instead of landing them together.

◆ Prediction

The 2.14 compatibility flag is still defaulting to TRUE and the fmesher re-exports are described in the entries as temporary, so the next obvious move is a release that flips bru_compat_pre_2_14_enable off and drops those re-exports.

V
vcfR
INFRA · APIS
0.0

A genomics workhorse whose visible release feed stops dead in mid-2020.

◆ Current state

vcfR reads, manipulates and visualises VCF files, the standard format for genomic variant calls, and bridges them into R population-genetics classes such as genind, genlight and DNAbin. The three entries available here all come from the first half of 2020 and stop there, so the feed shows the state of the package six years ago rather than today.

◆ Where it's heading

Within that window the direction is unmistakably consolidation, not growth. 1.9.0 pushed error handling down into the C++ layer that actually reads the VCF so failures surface earlier and shared files stop tripping a readability pre-check, tightened class checks, and added conversion options. The two releases after it exist only to keep pace with R 4.0.0 and dplyr 1.0.0. Any development after June 2020 is not visible in this feed, so the current trajectory cannot be read from it.

◆ Prediction

No prediction can be grounded in these entries — the feed has been silent for six years, which points at a stale or broken source rather than at a package that stopped.

Alternatives to inlabru and vcfR

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 inlabru or vcfR.

See all inlabru alternatives → · See all vcfR alternatives →

Recent activity from inlabru and vcfR

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

  1. 23d agoinlabruPredictor linearisation rewritten; broom tidiers, truncated families
  2. 3mo agoinlabruBugfix release: factor contrasts, raster extraction, error classes
  3. 5mo agoinlabruNew mappers, standardised cgeneric support, bru_obs storage refactor
  4. 1y agoinlabruMapper classes shortened to bm_*, experimental predictor aggregation
  5. 1y agoinlabruDrops sp and ggmap for an sf-native spatial stack
  6. 6y agovcfRCompatibility release for R 4.0 and dplyr 1.0
  7. 6y agovcfRDeprecated dplyr verbs handled in the tidy conversion path
  8. 6y agovcfRVCF read errors move into C++; allele-return options added

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between inlabru and vcfR?

Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Infra & APIs. inlabru 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 inlabru better than vcfR?

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

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

What are the best alternatives to vcfR?

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