n2kanalysis
n2kanalysis has spent eight years wiring INLA models to an S3 bucket.
Comparison · Analytics
OHPL vs units
A side-by-side editorial comparison of OHPL and units — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
OHPL vs units: at a glance
What is OHPL?
A 2017 chemometrics method frozen in place, visited only when CRAN changes its documentation rules.
OHPL implements ordered homogeneity pursuit lasso, a variable selection method for high-dimensional spectroscopic data that groups correlated predictors before applying a lasso. The functional package was complete by 1.2 in 2017, when prediction, performance evaluation and simulated data generation functions were added. Every release since has touched documentation and packaging only.
What is units?
units reaches 1.0 by rewriting its parser and accepting the breakage that comes with it.
units attaches physical units to R vectors on top of the udunits2 library, covering arithmetic, conversion and ggplot2 scales. Version 1.0-0 replaced the unit-expression tokenizer so numbers are consistently treated as prefixes, and expressions like ml/min/1.73m^2 now parse the way physiologists write them. Printing follows NIST conventions, and 1.0-1 is a fix pass over memory handling and parser edge cases.
OHPL vs units: editorial side-by-side
OHPL
0.0ANALYTICS
A 2017 chemometrics method frozen in place, visited only when CRAN changes its documentation rules.
◆ Current state
OHPL implements ordered homogeneity pursuit lasso, a variable selection method for high-dimensional spectroscopic data that groups correlated predictors before applying a lasso. The functional package was complete by 1.2 in 2017, when prediction, performance evaluation and simulated data generation functions were added. Every release since has touched documentation and packaging only.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a published-method package in the archival phase: the algorithm is fixed, the paper is cited, and the maintainer keeps it installable. The releases read as a timeline of R packaging conventions rather than of the method — tidyverse code style in 2019, roxygen2 Markdown and bibentry() in 2024, Rd HTML validation in 2026. Gaps of two to five years between releases are normal here.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release whenever CRAN introduces another documentation or packaging check; there is no indication the method itself will be extended.
units
0.0ANALYTICS
units reaches 1.0 by rewriting its parser and accepting the breakage that comes with it.
◆ Current state
units attaches physical units to R vectors on top of the udunits2 library, covering arithmetic, conversion and ggplot2 scales. Version 1.0-0 replaced the unit-expression tokenizer so numbers are consistently treated as prefixes, and expressions like ml/min/1.73m^2 now parse the way physiologists write them. Printing follows NIST conventions, and 1.0-1 is a fix pass over memory handling and parser edge cases.
◆ Where it's heading
The long 0.8-x run was accretion — ggplot2 scales absorbed from ggforce, ud_convert(), matrix methods, steady performance work — while known parsing defects stayed in place. The 1.0 release finally traded backwards compatibility for correct parsing, and 1.0-1's pointer-wrapping and exception-propagation work suggests the C++ glue is being hardened behind it. Fixes cluster at the udunits2 boundary, which remains the main source of surprises.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued patch releases against udunits2 quirks and the new tokenizer's fallout rather than new surface area, with the ggplot2 integration and conversion helpers already in place.
Alternatives to OHPL and units
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 OHPL or units.
n1qn1c
A Fortran-descended optimizer got thread-safe, then found two flags that never worked.
ggstatsplot
ggstatsplot reached 1.0 by adding tests, having outsourced its statistics years ago.
collapse
collapse got a JSS paper and a 7x fmean speedup in the same release.
gtsummary
gtsummary is quietly rebuilding itself around analysis results data, one table verb at a time.
broadcast
broadcast is filling in NumPy-style array broadcasting for R, operator by operator.
Recent activity from OHPL and units
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agoOHPLRd documentation HTML validation fixed
- 5mo agounitsMemory-leak and udunits2 parsing fixes after 1.0
- 10mo agounitsNew tokenizer parses compound units correctly ⚡
- 1y agounitsCopy semantics fix in ud_convert(); C++17 for old R
- 1y agounitscbind/rbind methods, ud_convert() and broad fixes
- 1y agounitsSilences a CRAN compiler warning
- 2y agoOHPLDocumentation modernized to current R conventions
- 2y agounitsRestores simplify=FALSE for identical units
- 7y agoOHPLCode restyled and repository links updated
- 9y agoOHPLCitation information and documentation site updated
- 9y agoOHPLPrediction and evaluation functions complete the package
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between OHPL and units?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. OHPL and units 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 OHPL better than units?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. OHPL and units 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 OHPL?
Top OHPL alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OHPL alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ohpl for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to units?
Top units alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "units alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/units-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.