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Comparison · Infra & APIs
onemap vs robscale
A side-by-side editorial comparison of onemap and robscale — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
onemap vs robscale: at a glance
What is onemap?
A genetic-mapping mainstay that now points new users toward MAPpoly at load time
OneMap constructs genetic linkage maps for experimental crosses, and its 3.x line turned it into a hub in a wider mapping toolchain: export functions for VIEWpoly and QTLpoly, summary and interactive ordering functions adapted from MAPpoly, and retention of reference and alternative allele information from imported VCFs. The most recent release, 3.2.0 in January 2025, adds an announcement about MAPpoly to the README and the package load message, fixes a subscript-out-of-bounds warning in rf_2pts and refreshes vignettes and tests.
What is robscale?
A robust-statistics package rewrote its estimators in SIMD C++ and went to CRAN in two weeks.
robscale computes robust scale and location estimators, and its pitch is speed: 21 to 26 times faster than stats::mad, 37 times faster than stats::IQR on small samples, with comparable margins over robustbase for Qn and Sn. The March 2026 releases took it from a GitHub project to a CRAN package carrying eleven estimators, all with confidence intervals.
onemap vs robscale: editorial side-by-side
onemap
0.0INFRA · APIS
A genetic-mapping mainstay that now points new users toward MAPpoly at load time
◆ Current state
OneMap constructs genetic linkage maps for experimental crosses, and its 3.x line turned it into a hub in a wider mapping toolchain: export functions for VIEWpoly and QTLpoly, summary and interactive ordering functions adapted from MAPpoly, and retention of reference and alternative allele information from imported VCFs. The most recent release, 3.2.0 in January 2025, adds an announcement about MAPpoly to the README and the package load message, fixes a subscript-out-of-bounds warning in rf_2pts and refreshes vignettes and tests.
◆ Where it's heading
Versions 3.0.0 and 3.1.0 were driven by a benchmarking preprint on genotyping-by-sequencing best practice, and their content follows directly: marker filtering from two-point estimates, memory reduction after filtering, and optimisation of find_bins and map_avoid_unlinked. What has happened since is signposting rather than capability — a package that spent two releases integrating with MAPpoly now tells users about it every time it loads. The pre-3.0 tags are backfilled, with versions 2.3 through 2.7 sharing a single August 2021 timestamp, so their order carries no information.
◆ Prediction
The load-message announcement suggests attention is flowing toward the MAPpoly side of the toolchain; expect maintenance and compatibility releases here rather than new mapping algorithms.
robscale
0.0INFRA · APIS
A robust-statistics package rewrote its estimators in SIMD C++ and went to CRAN in two weeks.
◆ Current state
robscale computes robust scale and location estimators, and its pitch is speed: 21 to 26 times faster than stats::mad, 37 times faster than stats::IQR on small samples, with comparable margins over robustbase for Qn and Sn. The March 2026 releases took it from a GitHub project to a CRAN package carrying eleven estimators, all with confidence intervals.
◆ Where it's heading
Three releases in a fortnight walk a clear line: expand the public API, submit to CRAN, then tune. The 0.5.4 work is where that tuning shows, and it is unusually specific about hardware, raising sorting-network thresholds after benchmarking and dropping the AVX-512 path entirely in favour of a shorter AVX2-first dispatch chain. The build-fix lists are long, which is what a package fighting compiler and TBB variation across CRAN's platforms looks like.
◆ Prediction
The dispatch hierarchy has been simplified once already; further releases most likely continue narrowing the SIMD surface and hardening the configure step rather than adding estimators. A new estimator would be the surprise.
Alternatives to onemap and robscale
Other Infra & APIs 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 onemap or robscale.
Okta
Okta's developer blog is a Cross App Access campaign, now diluted by advocacy-team storytelling.
tealeaves
A leaf-temperature model that finished its job in 2020 and has stayed finished
Infisical
A credential platform assembled two or three pull requests at a time, never a headline
SigNoz
Search without knowing the field — SigNoz keeps lowering the cost of not knowing your schema
nmfspalette
A NOAA Fisheries colour palette that ships when the branding guide changes
See all onemap alternatives → · See all robscale alternatives →
Recent activity from onemap and robscale
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agorobscaleSIMD median networks land; AVX-512 dispatch is dropped
- 4mo agorobscaleCRAN submission ships 11 robust estimators with bootstrap intervals ⚡
- 5mo agorobscalescale_robust() dispatcher and four new estimators join the public API
- 1y agoonemapMAPpoly announcement added to README and load message
- 3y agoonemapExports to VIEWpoly and QTLpoly; marker ordering and map summaries
- 3y agoonemapTwo-point marker filtering and memory reduction
- 4y agoonemapPSOCK and FORK parallelization choice; vcfR as an import
- 5y agoonemaphmm=FALSE option for ordering algorithms
- 5y agoonemapMDSMap dependency removed
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between onemap and robscale?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. onemap and robscale 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 onemap better than robscale?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. onemap and robscale 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to onemap?
Top onemap alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "onemap alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/onemap for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to robscale?
Top robscale alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "robscale alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/robscale for the full list with editorial commentary on each.