simlandr
Potential landscape tooling settling onto standard R generics after two rounds of renaming.
Comparison · Analytics
kde1d vs simmer.plot
A side-by-side editorial comparison of kde1d and simmer.plot — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
kde1d vs simmer.plot: at a glance
What is kde1d?
A univariate density estimator that added zero-inflated data and reopened its C++ API to do it.
kde1d estimates univariate densities with local polynomial kernel methods, handling bounded, discrete and now zero-inflated variables through a single type argument, with the numerical work in a header-only C++ library usable outside R. Version 1.1.0 added the zero-inflated discrete-continuous mixture case and shipped a new C++ API as an explicit breaking change; 1.1.1 followed in June with auto-generated notes and no description.
What is simmer.plot?
The plotting companion to simmer, shipping only when the simulator or a graphics dependency moves.
simmer.plot renders discrete-event simulation output — S3 plot() methods over get_mon_arrivals(), get_mon_attributes() and get_mon_resources(), plus trajectory diagrams drawn through DiagrammeR. Since 0.1.12 the methods attach to the monitoring data itself rather than the simulation environment, and 0.1.18 finished that migration by deleting the deprecated environment-level methods.
kde1d vs simmer.plot: editorial side-by-side
kde1d
0.0ANALYTICS
A univariate density estimator that added zero-inflated data and reopened its C++ API to do it.
◆ Current state
kde1d estimates univariate densities with local polynomial kernel methods, handling bounded, discrete and now zero-inflated variables through a single type argument, with the numerical work in a header-only C++ library usable outside R. Version 1.1.0 added the zero-inflated discrete-continuous mixture case and shipped a new C++ API as an explicit breaking change; 1.1.1 followed in June with auto-generated notes and no description.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has alternated between performance work and widening the class of data it accepts. The 1.0.0 release was the performance milestone — FFT-based estimation, a better integration algorithm for the p, q and r functions, deterministic jittering replacing randomness, and standalone C++ headers. The 1.1.0 release is the scope milestone, adding a third data type to the two it already handled. Releases come from the same maintainer as svines and cluster on shared dates, so changes in the underlying C++ surface across the vine and density stack tend to ship together.
◆ Prediction
With the C++ API deliberately reworked for standalone use at 1.1.0, further work most plausibly consolidates that interface rather than adding data types. What 1.1.1 actually changed is not readable from its body.
simmer.plot
0.0ANALYTICS
The plotting companion to simmer, shipping only when the simulator or a graphics dependency moves.
◆ Current state
simmer.plot renders discrete-event simulation output — S3 plot() methods over get_mon_arrivals(), get_mon_attributes() and get_mon_resources(), plus trajectory diagrams drawn through DiagrammeR. Since 0.1.12 the methods attach to the monitoring data itself rather than the simulation environment, and 0.1.18 finished that migration by deleting the deprecated environment-level methods.
◆ Where it's heading
This package moves when something it depends on moves. Its history is a sequence of parser fixes for new simmer trajectory formats, DiagrammeR and tidyr and dplyr version bumps, and ggplot2 workarounds. The one clear internal decision — plotting monitor output instead of the environment — was made in 2017 and completed six years later. The 2025 release fixes documentation cross-references and nothing else.
◆ Prediction
The next release most likely follows a simmer trajectory-format change or a CRAN documentation policy, matching every recent entry. There is no visible feature work in the pipeline.
Alternatives to kde1d and simmer.plot
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 kde1d or simmer.plot.
lavaanExtra
SEM reporting helpers converging on APA output, one CRAN resubmission at a time.
ibis.iSDM
A raster-to-terra migration is the only readable change in a feed of merge notes.
anyflights
A nycflights13 generator whose recent work is all about the data being right.
vinereg
Conditional density and log-likelihood fill out a vine copula regression package.
stringx
A drop-in string API for base R, kept alive by upstream check failures.
See all kde1d alternatives → · See all simmer.plot alternatives →
Recent activity from kde1d and simmer.plot
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1y agosimmer.plotDocumentation cross-reference fixes
- 1y agokde1dkde1d 1.1.1
- 1y agokde1dZero-inflated mixtures and a new standalone C++ API ⚡
- 3y agosimmer.plotActivity tags and named rollbacks; deprecated plot methods removed
- 4y agokde1dBit-wise Boolean operations removed
- 4y agosimmer.plotZero-capacity utilization fixed; usage limits exposed
- 5y agokde1ddkde1d() invisible output fixed
- 5y agokde1dValgrind false positive silenced
- 6y agosimmer.plotRollback pointer fix and upstream bug workarounds
- 6y agokde1dqrng dependency dropped; undefined behaviour fixed
- 8y agosimmer.plotResource plot factors keep the supplied order
- 8y agosimmer.plotUpdate for DiagrammeR 1.0.0
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between kde1d and simmer.plot?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. kde1d and simmer.plot 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 kde1d better than simmer.plot?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. kde1d and simmer.plot 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 kde1d?
Top kde1d alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "kde1d alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/kde1d for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to simmer.plot?
Top simmer.plot alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "simmer.plot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/simmer-plot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.