fastplyr
A fast dplyr stand-in that keeps finding new places to skip work entirely.
Comparison · Analytics
kernelshap vs OHPL
A side-by-side editorial comparison of kernelshap and OHPL — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
kernelshap vs OHPL: at a glance
What is kernelshap?
kernelshap makes permutation SHAP practical past eight features, then fixes the kernel weights it had wrong.
kernelshap computes model-agnostic SHAP values in R through Kernel SHAP, permutation SHAP and an exact additive explainer. Version 0.8.0 added a sampling permutation-SHAP algorithm with standard errors and early stopping, lifting the practical feature ceiling past what the exact method allows. Version 0.9.0 then corrected a bug in how kernel weights were computed — exact Kernel SHAP now agrees with exact permutation SHAP — and moved parallelism from foreach to doFuture.
What is OHPL?
A 2017 chemometrics method frozen in place, visited only when CRAN changes its documentation rules.
OHPL implements ordered homogeneity pursuit lasso, a variable selection method for high-dimensional spectroscopic data that groups correlated predictors before applying a lasso. The functional package was complete by 1.2 in 2017, when prediction, performance evaluation and simulated data generation functions were added. Every release since has touched documentation and packaging only.
kernelshap vs OHPL: editorial side-by-side
kernelshap
0.0ANALYTICS
kernelshap makes permutation SHAP practical past eight features, then fixes the kernel weights it had wrong.
◆ Current state
kernelshap computes model-agnostic SHAP values in R through Kernel SHAP, permutation SHAP and an exact additive explainer. Version 0.8.0 added a sampling permutation-SHAP algorithm with standard errors and early stopping, lifting the practical feature ceiling past what the exact method allows. Version 0.9.0 then corrected a bug in how kernel weights were computed — exact Kernel SHAP now agrees with exact permutation SHAP — and moved parallelism from foreach to doFuture.
◆ Where it's heading
Two concerns drive this package: making exact methods reach further, and being demonstrably right. The first shows in the additive explainer, the optional background dataset and the sampling permutation algorithm; the second in unit tests written against Python's shap, credited fixes from outside contributors, and a willingness to ship a correctness fix that changes numbers people have already published. Speed work runs continuously underneath — direct solves replacing the Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse, roughly 10% less memory.
◆ Prediction
The 0.6.0 and 0.7.0 notes each promised a stable 1.0.0 that has not arrived; with the weighting bug fixed and parallelism reworked, a 1.0 release is the most plausible next step.
OHPL
0.0ANALYTICS
A 2017 chemometrics method frozen in place, visited only when CRAN changes its documentation rules.
◆ Current state
OHPL implements ordered homogeneity pursuit lasso, a variable selection method for high-dimensional spectroscopic data that groups correlated predictors before applying a lasso. The functional package was complete by 1.2 in 2017, when prediction, performance evaluation and simulated data generation functions were added. Every release since has touched documentation and packaging only.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a published-method package in the archival phase: the algorithm is fixed, the paper is cited, and the maintainer keeps it installable. The releases read as a timeline of R packaging conventions rather than of the method — tidyverse code style in 2019, roxygen2 Markdown and bibentry() in 2024, Rd HTML validation in 2026. Gaps of two to five years between releases are normal here.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release whenever CRAN introduces another documentation or packaging check; there is no indication the method itself will be extended.
Alternatives to kernelshap and OHPL
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 kernelshap or OHPL.
trias
Belgium's invasive-species indicator toolkit is in steady refinement, one plotting edge case at a time.
icesSAG
The ICES stock assessment client took upload away in 2024 and spent two years giving it back.
dggridR
A discrete global grid generator grew cell traversal and became a usable spatial index.
vegan
Community ecology's standard toolkit is retiring the functions a generation of scripts was built on.
ichimoku
A cloud-chart package quietly swapping its dependencies for its maintainer's own libraries.
See all kernelshap alternatives → · See all OHPL alternatives →
Recent activity from kernelshap and OHPL
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agoOHPLRd documentation HTML validation fixed
- 1y agokernelshapKernel weight bug fixed; parallelism moves to doFuture
- 1y agokernelshapSampling permutation SHAP with standard errors ⚡
- 1y agokernelshapBackground data now optional; ranger survival support
- 2y agoOHPLDocumentation modernized to current R conventions
- 2y agokernelshapFactor-valued predictions dropped
- 2y agokernelshapadditive_shap() explains additive models exactly
- 2y agokernelshapFaster on plain data.frames
- 7y agoOHPLCode restyled and repository links updated
- 9y agoOHPLCitation information and documentation site updated
- 9y agoOHPLPrediction and evaluation functions complete the package
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between kernelshap and OHPL?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. kernelshap and OHPL 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 kernelshap better than OHPL?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. kernelshap and OHPL 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 kernelshap?
Top kernelshap alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "kernelshap alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/kernelshap for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to OHPL?
Top OHPL alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OHPL alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ohpl for the full list with editorial commentary on each.