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Comparison · Analytics
maplegend vs webchem
A side-by-side editorial comparison of maplegend and webchem — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
maplegend vs webchem: at a glance
What is maplegend?
The legend engine mapsf spun out, now covering legend types the parent map package can draw.
maplegend draws the legends for base-R thematic maps, extracted from mapsf so both packages could evolve the legend vocabulary independently. It has been catching up to the map types it has to serve: 0.6.0 added choro_point, choro_line, and choro_symb for choropleth legends rendered on circles, lines, and symbols, following the histogram legend type in 0.4.0. Considerable effort has gone into behaving correctly when the plot aspect ratio is not 1, which required refactoring most of the package in 0.4.0 and still produced a proportional-symbol segment sizing fix in 0.6.3.
What is webchem?
Adding chemical databases with one hand while public ones close programmatic access with the other.
webchem is the R interface to public chemical data — retrieving identifiers, properties and structures across roughly a dozen web services. Its release history reads as a running account of which of those services still allow automated access. Version 1.3.0 removed two functions outright because their sources withdrew: ChemIDplus was retired by the NLM, and PAN stopped supporting programmatic access. Version 1.3.1 continues the pattern, updating URLs that stopped working and noting that ChemSpider InChIKey validation now requires an API key like the rest of that provider's endpoints.
maplegend vs webchem: editorial side-by-side
maplegend
0.0ANALYTICS
The legend engine mapsf spun out, now covering legend types the parent map package can draw.
◆ Current state
maplegend draws the legends for base-R thematic maps, extracted from mapsf so both packages could evolve the legend vocabulary independently. It has been catching up to the map types it has to serve: 0.6.0 added choro_point, choro_line, and choro_symb for choropleth legends rendered on circles, lines, and symbols, following the histogram legend type in 0.4.0. Considerable effort has gone into behaving correctly when the plot aspect ratio is not 1, which required refactoring most of the package in 0.4.0 and still produced a proportional-symbol segment sizing fix in 0.6.3.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a support library whose backlog is defined by its caller. Every legend type mapsf can produce needs a matching legend renderer, and the release notes are dominated by spacing, offset, and border details — box_cex for symbol spacing, NA box placement in horizontal choropleth legends, text overflow when no_data is set. The shared vocabulary with mapsf is being maintained deliberately, with val_rnd, val_big, and val_dec propagating through legend types release by release. Version numbering is not monotonic in this feed, with 0.4.0 published seconds after 0.5.0.
◆ Prediction
Expect the remaining combined map types to acquire matching legends and the val_* formatting arguments to reach the types that still lack them.
webchem
0.0ANALYTICS
Adding chemical databases with one hand while public ones close programmatic access with the other.
◆ Current state
webchem is the R interface to public chemical data — retrieving identifiers, properties and structures across roughly a dozen web services. Its release history reads as a running account of which of those services still allow automated access. Version 1.3.0 removed two functions outright because their sources withdrew: ChemIDplus was retired by the NLM, and PAN stopped supporting programmatic access. Version 1.3.1 continues the pattern, updating URLs that stopped working and noting that ChemSpider InChIKey validation now requires an API key like the rest of that provider's endpoints.
◆ Where it's heading
Two opposing forces run through these entries. The package keeps widening its coverage — ChEMBL in 1.2.0, LIPID MAPS and SwissLipids identifiers via Wikidata, structure images, Mol export — while the open, unauthenticated end of the chemical web keeps contracting. The other consistent thread is interface harmonisation: successive releases have converged the get_* functions on the same query and from arguments, tibble returns, and CAS reformatting, so the package feels like one interface rather than a dozen wrappers.
◆ Prediction
Expect further defunct functions and URL repairs as more providers move behind keys or shut down, alongside occasional additions of sources that remain open. The entries show no sign of a general credential-management layer, which is what a package facing this trend would eventually need.
Alternatives to maplegend and webchem
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 maplegend or webchem.
nanoparquet
nanoparquet is chasing byte-level agreement with the Java and Rust Parquet readers, not feature count.
poissonreg
poissonreg gave its models away to parsnip and kept the glue — now it just keeps glmnet honest.
S7
S7 has stopped adding surface and started proving it holds up against R itself.
torchvision
R's torchvision is porting PyTorch's vision stack one task at a time — instance segmentation just landed.
datefixR
The messy-date parser rewrote its core in Rust and came out 300x faster.
See all maplegend alternatives → · See all webchem alternatives →
Recent activity from maplegend and webchem
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agomaplegendContinuous legend formatting and aspect-ratio segment fix
- 4mo agomaplegendChoropleth legends on points, lines and symbols
- 7mo agomaplegendPackage-wide refactor for non-unity aspect ratios, histogram legends
- 7mo agomaplegendSingle-modality legends allowed for typo, symb and prop_line
- 1y agowebchemRepairs broken URLs; ChemSpider check now needs a key
- 1y agomaplegendAlpha transparency and redraw on device resize
- 1y agomaplegendOffset and symbol sizing aligned with mapsf
- 3y agowebchemChemIDplus and PAN queries removed as sources shut down ⚡
- 3y agowebchemAdds ChEMBL access for bioactive compound data
- 4y agowebchemcir_query() returns a tibble, a breaking change
- 4y agowebchemAdds Mol structure export; aw_query renamed to bcpc_query
- 5y agowebchemFetches LIPID MAPS and SwissLipids identifiers from Wikidata
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between maplegend and webchem?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. maplegend and webchem 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 maplegend better than webchem?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. maplegend and webchem 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 maplegend?
Top maplegend alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "maplegend alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/maplegend for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to webchem?
Top webchem alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "webchem alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/webchem for the full list with editorial commentary on each.