HydroPortailStats
France's national flood statistics, ported out of Fortran and into R.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
ltertools vs profoc
A side-by-side editorial comparison of ltertools and profoc — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
ltertools vs profoc: at a glance
What is ltertools?
A column-key toolkit for stitching decades of ecological field data into one table.
ltertools serves the Long Term Ecological Research network, where the same measurement carries a different column name at every site and in every era. Its core is a column key: begin_key drafts one, harmonize applies it, and the 2.0.0 release added check_key to validate a key and standardize to apply one to a single dataset. Harmonization of files above 5 MB now runs in roughly half the time.
What is profoc?
A forecast combination package that spun its profiler out into its own project
profoc combines probabilistic forecasts online, using the Bernstein online aggregation family with B-spline smoothing over quantiles and time. The recent releases are infrastructure rather than method: 1.3.4 removed a using namespace arma directive for CRAN compliance and closed a timer edge case, 1.3.3 adjusted the integration with rcpptimer against its now-stable 1.2.0 API. The last release to change what users can do was 1.3.0, which exposed the conline C++ class to R and exported init_experts_list(), make_basis_mats(), make_hat_mats() and post_process_model() so the engine can be driven directly.
ltertools vs profoc: editorial side-by-side
ltertools
0.0INFRA · APIS
A column-key toolkit for stitching decades of ecological field data into one table.
◆ Current state
ltertools serves the Long Term Ecological Research network, where the same measurement carries a different column name at every site and in every era. Its core is a column key: begin_key drafts one, harmonize applies it, and the 2.0.0 release added check_key to validate a key and standardize to apply one to a single dataset. Harmonization of files above 5 MB now runs in roughly half the time.
◆ Where it's heading
Development has moved from breadth to depth. The first year added assorted utilities — temperature conversion, solar day length, a site timeline — while the last two releases have concentrated on the key workflow itself: incremental key expansion, validation, per-dataset application, and speed. A dependency archival forced the removal of the JSON helper, trimming the package back toward that core.
◆ Prediction
The key workflow now has draft, expand, check and apply steps, so the remaining gap is diagnostics on the harmonized output; the entries show no other thread in progress.
profoc
0.0INFRA · APIS
A forecast combination package that spun its profiler out into its own project
◆ Current state
profoc combines probabilistic forecasts online, using the Bernstein online aggregation family with B-spline smoothing over quantiles and time. The recent releases are infrastructure rather than method: 1.3.4 removed a using namespace arma directive for CRAN compliance and closed a timer edge case, 1.3.3 adjusted the integration with rcpptimer against its now-stable 1.2.0 API. The last release to change what users can do was 1.3.0, which exposed the conline C++ class to R and exported init_experts_list(), make_basis_mats(), make_hat_mats() and post_process_model() so the engine can be driven directly.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is toward a reusable C++ core with thin language bindings. The timing code that lived inside profoc was extracted into the standalone rcpptimer package in 1.3.2, deliberately so other R packages and Python projects could use it through cpptimer and cppytimer, and the clock header was reworked in 1.3.1 to maximise the code shared between the R and Python versions. Method work sits earlier in the history - periodic splines and penalties in 1.2.0, the penalty() function in 1.1.0 - while the recent cadence, a single release in the last sixteen months, points at a package the maintainer considers finished.
◆ Prediction
The repeated references to future Python use suggest the next significant work happens outside this package, in the shared C++ components, rather than in profoc's R surface.
Alternatives to ltertools and profoc
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 ltertools or profoc.
bsvarSIGNs
Sign, zero and narrative restrictions brought into the bsvars ecosystem.
estimatr
Fast design-based estimators for experiments, coasting on CRAN patches.
ggdist
The grammar of uncertainty visualization, now drawing the uncertainty in its own estimates.
ipaddress
IP address vectors for R that hit 1.0 and then went quiet.
finnts
Microsoft's automated forecasting framework, still mostly a one-maintainer effort.
See all ltertools alternatives → · See all profoc alternatives →
Recent activity from ltertools and profoc
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 6mo agoprofocCRAN compliance fix removing a namespace directive
- 11mo agoltertoolsWarning wording and a ggplot2 4.0.0 test update
- 1y agoltertoolsKey validation and single-dataset standardizing; JSON helper dropped
- 1y agoltertoolsIncremental key expansion for newly added files
- 1y agoprofocTimer integration updated to the stable rcpptimer API
- 1y agoltertoolsSolar day calculations, JSON export, defensive checks in harmonize
- 2y agoprofocTiming code extracted into the standalone rcpptimer package
- 2y agoltertoolsFirst CRAN release: the column-key harmonization workflow
- 2y agoprofocInteger overflow fix and Welford timing statistics
- 2y agoprofocThe conline C++ class opens up to R users
- 2y agoprofocQuantile crossing flagged and tidy methods added
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ltertools and profoc?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Infra & APIs. ltertools and profoc 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 ltertools better than profoc?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ltertools and profoc 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to ltertools?
Top ltertools alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ltertools alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ltertools for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to profoc?
Top profoc alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "profoc alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/profoc for the full list with editorial commentary on each.