paleobuddy
paleobuddy can now simulate trait-dependent diversification, not just birth-death.
A side-by-side editorial comparison of parallelDist and rjdqa — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
parallelDist is in pure preservation mode — one build fix every few years.
parallelDist computes distance matrices across threads in C++ via RcppParallel and Armadillo. The feature set has been settled since 0.2.3 in 2018, which added hamming distance and cosine similarity; everything after that is compatibility work. The most recent release, 0.2.7, exists only to drop a C++11 pin that newer Armadillo versions no longer tolerate.
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().
parallelDist computes distance matrices across threads in C++ via RcppParallel and Armadillo. The feature set has been settled since 0.2.3 in 2018, which added hamming distance and cosine similarity; everything after that is compatibility work. The most recent release, 0.2.7, exists only to drop a C++11 pin that newer Armadillo versions no longer tolerate.
The package is being kept installable, not developed. The three most recent releases are a toolchain pin removal, a DESCRIPTION field removal, and a coercion change inherited from proxy — none originate from user-facing intent. Gaps of three to four years between releases are the norm now, and each one is triggered by something upstream breaking rather than by a roadmap.
The next release will almost certainly be another compatibility fix timed to whatever Armadillo, Rcpp or CRAN check policy changes next. Nothing in the entries points to new distance measures or API work.
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().
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.
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.
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 parallelDist or rjdqa.
paleobuddy can now simulate trait-dependent diversification, not just birth-death.
geodist stays dependency-free and fast, and warns you when 'cheap' distances stop being honest.
errors keeps making uncertainty print the way each scientific field expects.
CMAQ went global in v5.5, and has been patching that surface ever since.
enpls has not changed its statistics since 2016 — only its website, twice.
grex is a lookup table with a version number — it ships when the annotation moves.
See all parallelDist alternatives → · See all rjdqa alternatives →
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. parallelDist and rjdqa 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.
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. parallelDist and rjdqa 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.
Top parallelDist alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "parallelDist alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/paralleldist for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
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.