rjd3highfreq
rjd3highfreq ships whatever the Java side ships, and only occasionally says what that was.
Comparison · Analytics
n1qn1c vs spatstat
A side-by-side editorial comparison of n1qn1c and spatstat — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
n1qn1c vs spatstat: at a glance
What is n1qn1c?
A Fortran-descended optimizer got thread-safe, then found two flags that never worked.
n1qn1c is a quasi-Newton optimization routine translated from Fortran to C, used as a solver backend by the nlmixr2 modeling stack rather than called directly by most users. Its two 2026 releases are a concentrated safety pass: global state converted to thread_local, static removed from local variables in the translated code, integer overflow guards added, and memory leaks closed in the R callback wrappers — plus the gcc-asan and valgrind fixes CRAN asked for.
What is spatstat?
The spatstat umbrella package, now mostly a pointer to the sub-packages doing the work
spatstat is the front package of a family that was split into specialised components — spatstat.geom, spatstat.random, spatstat.model, spatstat.explore, spatstat.univar and spatstat.sparse. Its own release notes reflect that: entries in this window are largely announcements of where the real changes landed, plus documentation and cross-reference maintenance. The codebase it fronts passed 200,000 lines as of 3.5-1.
n1qn1c vs spatstat: editorial side-by-side
n1qn1c
0.0ANALYTICS
A Fortran-descended optimizer got thread-safe, then found two flags that never worked.
◆ Current state
n1qn1c is a quasi-Newton optimization routine translated from Fortran to C, used as a solver backend by the nlmixr2 modeling stack rather than called directly by most users. Its two 2026 releases are a concentrated safety pass: global state converted to thread_local, static removed from local variables in the translated code, integer overflow guards added, and memory leaks closed in the R callback wrappers — plus the gcc-asan and valgrind fixes CRAN asked for.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is being hardened for use inside a parallel modeling framework rather than extended. The audit that produced the thread-safety work also surfaced two plain bugs in features users would have assumed worked: restart = TRUE left the mode at 2 instead of 3 because of a typo, and assign = TRUE referenced the wrong field name so the compressed Hessian was never written to the supplied environment. Earlier work points the same direction — the 6.0.1-12 function-pointer interface exists so nlmixr2est does not need resubmission when this package changes.
◆ Prediction
Expect further memory-safety and sanitizer work rather than algorithmic change; a Fortran-translated numerical core under CRAN's checking regime generates that kind of release indefinitely.
spatstat
0.0ANALYTICS
The spatstat umbrella package, now mostly a pointer to the sub-packages doing the work
◆ Current state
spatstat is the front package of a family that was split into specialised components — spatstat.geom, spatstat.random, spatstat.model, spatstat.explore, spatstat.univar and spatstat.sparse. Its own release notes reflect that: entries in this window are largely announcements of where the real changes landed, plus documentation and cross-reference maintenance. The codebase it fronts passed 200,000 lines as of 3.5-1.
◆ Where it's heading
The split is effectively complete and the umbrella's role has settled into coordination — tracking version dependencies across sub-packages and pointing users to them. The family has kept subdividing over this period, with spatstat.univar joining in 3.1-0. The one substantive user-facing addition here is documentation infrastructure: 3.3-0 added the ability to list the history of changes to a specific function, which is a navigational answer to a codebase now spread across many packages.
◆ Prediction
Expect this package's notes to continue summarising sub-package activity rather than carrying features of its own, since every release in this window does exactly that. Read spatstat.geom, spatstat.random and spatstat.model for the substance.
Alternatives to n1qn1c and spatstat
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 n1qn1c or spatstat.
audubon
audubon's release feed is almost entirely Renovate bumping the JavaScript toolchain behind its Japanese text splitter.
affiner
affiner is quietly turning a grid transformation helper into a small computational geometry library.
ageproR
ageproR spent two years chasing a moving file format, then added the recruitment models that justify the effort.
r-ledger
ledger adds a Rust toolchain fallback, so beancount imports work whether or not the Python tooling is installed.
gridpattern
gridpattern keeps widening its catalogue, and the newest patterns finally use the device's own line rendering.
See all n1qn1c alternatives → · See all spatstat alternatives →
Recent activity from n1qn1c and spatstat
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agospatstatSub-package updates across sparse, univar and random
- 4mo agon1qn1crestart and assign flags fixed; sanitizer issues cleared
- 4mo agon1qn1cGlobal state converted to thread_local
- 6mo agospatstatspatstat passes 200,000 lines of code
- 10mo agospatstatNew vignette documenting NA spatial objects
- 1y agospatstatPer-function change history now listable
- 1y agon1qn1cFunction-pointer API decouples nlmixr2est releases
- 2y agospatstatspatstat.univar joins the package family
- 3y agospatstatSub-package cross-references and docs corrected
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between n1qn1c and spatstat?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. n1qn1c and spatstat 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 n1qn1c better than spatstat?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. n1qn1c and spatstat 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 n1qn1c?
Top n1qn1c alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "n1qn1c alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/n1qn1c for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to spatstat?
Top spatstat alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "spatstat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/spatstat-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.