TAF
TAF keeps turning ICES stock assessments into reproducible, dependency-pinned projects.
Comparison · Analytics
mizer vs rjdqa
A side-by-side editorial comparison of mizer and rjdqa — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
mizer vs rjdqa: at a glance
What is mizer?
After two and a half years dormant, mizer shipped three major versions in seven weeks.
The size-spectrum fish modelling package sat at 2.5.0 from December 2023 until June 2026, then released 3.0.0, 3.1.0 and 3.2.0 in the space of seven weeks. The three releases divide cleanly: 3.0.0 added biological realism through a diffusion term in the McKendrick-von Foerster equation, 3.1.0 added an opt-in second-order numerical scheme in size, and 3.2.0 rebuilt how species and resource parameters are set. Backward compatibility is handled carefully throughout — the experimental scheme is off by default and the first-order path is byte-identical to previous versions.
What is rjdqa?
rjdqa keeps refining one screen: the seasonal adjustment quality dashboard
rjdqa builds quality assessment dashboards for seasonal adjustment models produced by JDemetra+, aimed at official statisticians reviewing adjusted series. Essentially all development goes into two functions, simple_dashboard() and its denser variant simple_dashboard2(). Version 0.1.6 adds parameters to append observations to the forecast and to control whether the residual trading-days test is printed, defaulting to monthly series only, plus outlier table layout work and user-defined calendar regressor support in sc_dashboard().
mizer vs rjdqa: editorial side-by-side
mizer
5.0ANALYTICS
After two and a half years dormant, mizer shipped three major versions in seven weeks.
◆ Current state
The size-spectrum fish modelling package sat at 2.5.0 from December 2023 until June 2026, then released 3.0.0, 3.1.0 and 3.2.0 in the space of seven weeks. The three releases divide cleanly: 3.0.0 added biological realism through a diffusion term in the McKendrick-von Foerster equation, 3.1.0 added an opt-in second-order numerical scheme in size, and 3.2.0 rebuilt how species and resource parameters are set. Backward compatibility is handled carefully throughout — the experimental scheme is off by default and the first-order path is byte-identical to previous versions.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads run through the 3.x line. The first is numerical: diffusion, then higher-order accuracy in both size and time, with explicit warnings that enabling them shifts diagnostics and may require recalibration. The second is making the package composable — extensions now work regardless of load order, and parameter assignment propagates to the derived rate arrays instead of being silently discarded. That second thread reads as the more consequential one: the 3.2.0 notes describe scalar edits that previously vanished and now accumulate, which is the kind of fix that changes what published model configurations actually computed.
◆ Prediction
Expect the experimental second-order scheme to move toward default-on once recalibration guidance exists, and the patch line to keep absorbing the documentation and website gaps that 3.2.1 started on.
rjdqa
0.0ANALYTICS
rjdqa keeps refining one screen: the seasonal adjustment quality dashboard
◆ Current state
rjdqa builds quality assessment dashboards for seasonal adjustment models produced by JDemetra+, aimed at official statisticians reviewing adjusted series. Essentially all development goes into two functions, simple_dashboard() and its denser variant simple_dashboard2(). Version 0.1.6 adds parameters to append observations to the forecast and to control whether the residual trading-days test is printed, defaulting to monthly series only, plus outlier table layout work and user-defined calendar regressor support in sc_dashboard().
◆ Where it's heading
The package has converged on a single deliverable and is tuning it against reviewer practice. Each release adds a parameter that lets the analyst include or exclude one element of the dashboard, or adjusts how densely information is packed into the fixed space of the layout. The td_effect default — print the test only for monthly series — is characteristic: the knowledge about when a diagnostic is meaningful is being encoded into the tool rather than left to the reader.
◆ Prediction
The pattern of adding one toggle per diagnostic per release points at the same thing again, most likely another test given a conditional default, rather than a new dashboard function alongside the two that exist.
Alternatives to mizer and rjdqa
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 mizer or rjdqa.
parallelDist
parallelDist is in pure preservation mode — one build fix every few years.
cairo
Cairo finally catches R's graphics engine, all the way to GE API 16.
epikit
epikit narrows to field-epidemiology helpers, handing proportions to a sibling package
SimInf
SimInf 10.0 turns an epidemic simulator into a tool that fits models to real time series
mutagen
A young package porting Stata's egen row-wise helpers to the tidyverse, one function per release
Recent activity from mizer and rjdqa
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 15d agomizerpkgdown index fix for a man page added after the 3.2.0 build
- 25d agomizerParameter assignment rebuilds derived rates; extensions compose in any load order
- 1mo agomizerOpt-in second-order accurate scheme in the size variable
- 2mo agomizerDiffusion enters the McKendrick-von Foerster equation, ending a two-year gap ⚡
- 9mo agorjdqaForecast observations and conditional trading-days test in dashboards
- 1y agorjdqaFix tail() usage on ts objects
- 2y agorjdqaFix dependency minimums and outlier ordering
- 2y agorjdqasimple_dashboard2() added; deprecated sa_dashboard() removed
- 2y agorjdqasimple_dashboard() introduced; sa_dashboard() deprecated
- 2y agomizerExternal encounter rate, and a split between given and calculated parameters
- 3y agomizerw_inf renamed to w_max to separate maximum size from von Bertalanffy asymptotic size
- 7y agorjdqaFirst CRAN release
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between mizer and rjdqa?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. mizer is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 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 mizer better than rjdqa?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. mizer is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 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 Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to mizer?
Top mizer alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "mizer alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mizer-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to rjdqa?
Top rjdqa alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rjdqa alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rjdqa-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.