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Comparison · DevOps

mlr3misc vs ps

A side-by-side editorial comparison of mlr3misc and ps — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

mlr3misc vs ps: at a glance

Featuremlr3miscps
SectorDevOpsDevOps
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesmlr3, error-handling, encapsulation, utility-functionsprocesses, r-lib, processx, cross-platform
Last editorial update1h ago2h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is mlr3misc?

The mlr3 utility belt has spent a year rebuilding how errors travel

mlr3misc holds the helper functions the rest of mlr3 is built on — dictionaries, callbacks, assertions, and encapsulate() for running code with its conditions captured. The last six releases are one sustained project on that last piece: returning condition objects instead of strings, respecting .seed and .opts under the evaluate method, supporting parent conditions on Mlr3Error, and short-circuiting when .timeout is zero rather than silently disabling enforcement. A mirai encapsulation method arrived along the way.

Read the full mlr3misc trajectory →

What is ps?

ps grew from a process inspector into the thing that reliably kills what you started.

ps is the cross-platform process API underneath processx and callr, and its recent work splits between widening what it can query and hardening the guarantee that a handle still refers to the process you think it does. Version 1.8.0 added interruptible multi-process waiting, vectorised signalling, and graceful kill with a TERM-then-KILL grace period. Version 1.9.3 rebuilt Linux process creation times on a clock pair instead of integer-second boot time, closing a window where two processes could look identical.

Read the full ps trajectory →

mlr3misc vs ps: editorial side-by-side

M
mlr3misc
DEVOPS
0.0

The mlr3 utility belt has spent a year rebuilding how errors travel

◆ Current state

mlr3misc holds the helper functions the rest of mlr3 is built on — dictionaries, callbacks, assertions, and encapsulate() for running code with its conditions captured. The last six releases are one sustained project on that last piece: returning condition objects instead of strings, respecting .seed and .opts under the evaluate method, supporting parent conditions on Mlr3Error, and short-circuiting when .timeout is zero rather than silently disabling enforcement. A mirai encapsulation method arrived along the way.

◆ Where it's heading

The direction is making failures inspectable rather than merely reported. Storing conditions as objects lets callers branch on error class, which is why warningf() and stopf() gained a class argument and the mlr3warning and mlr3error classes; removing the msg column from encapsulate logs was the breaking change that followed from committing to that representation. Utility functions also keep migrating inward from other mlr3 packages, as the checkmate operators moved from mlr3pipelines show.

◆ Prediction

With conditions now carrying class and parentage, the natural follow-on is the calling packages using that structure — typed error handling in mlr3 and mlr3tuning rather than further work here.

P
ps
DEVOPS
0.0

ps grew from a process inspector into the thing that reliably kills what you started.

◆ Current state

ps is the cross-platform process API underneath processx and callr, and its recent work splits between widening what it can query and hardening the guarantee that a handle still refers to the process you think it does. Version 1.8.0 added interruptible multi-process waiting, vectorised signalling, and graceful kill with a TERM-then-KILL grace period. Version 1.9.3 rebuilt Linux process creation times on a clock pair instead of integer-second boot time, closing a window where two processes could look identical.

◆ Where it's heading

The direction is from observation to control. Early releases in view are per-process queries — CPU times, memory, affinity — and the newer ones are orchestration: wait on many processes with a timeout, signal a list of handles at once, terminate a tree politely before forcing it. The create-time precision work is what makes that safe, since a handle's identity is a PID plus a start time, and a one-second resolution start time is not enough to rule out PID reuse on a busy machine.

◆ Prediction

Expect the remaining platform-specific gaps in ps_status() and ps_apps() to close before any new capability area opens, since the recent additions have all been driven by processx issue reports.

Alternatives to mlr3misc and ps

Other DevOps 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 mlr3misc or ps.

See all mlr3misc alternatives → · See all ps alternatives →

Recent activity from mlr3misc and ps

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 2mo agomlr3miscmlr3misc 0.22.0 fixes a silently disabled encapsulate timeout
  2. 3mo agopsSub-second process create times on Linux
  3. 4mo agopsps_string() for unique process identification
  4. 5mo agomlr3miscmlr3misc 0.21.0 makes encapsulate methods behave consistently
  5. 5mo agomlr3miscmlr3misc 0.20.0 drops the msg column from encapsulate logs
  6. 11mo agomlr3miscmlr3misc 0.19.0 returns condition objects from encapsulate()
  7. 1y agomlr3miscmlr3misc 0.18.0 adds mirai as an encapsulation method
  8. 1y agomlr3miscmlr3misc 0.17.0 adds condition classes to warningf() and stopf()
  9. 1y agopsBuild correctly on Alpine Linux
  10. 1y agopsmaxrss reporting and selectable columns in ps()
  11. 1y agopsInstallable again on unsupported platforms
  12. 1y agopsMulti-process waiting, vectorised signals and graceful kill

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between mlr3misc and ps?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. mlr3misc and ps 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 mlr3misc better than ps?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. mlr3misc and ps 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 DevOps products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to mlr3misc?

Top mlr3misc alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "mlr3misc alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mlr3misc for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to ps?

Top ps alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ps alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ps-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.