rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
posterior vs tidyposterior
A side-by-side editorial comparison of posterior and tidyposterior — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
posterior vs tidyposterior: at a glance
What is posterior?
posterior keeps deepening two things: the rvar type and Pareto-based diagnostics.
The releases in this window advance on two fronts. The rvar random-variable type gained factor and ordered subtypes (1.4.0), rvar-indexed slicing and `rvar_ifelse()` (1.5.0), base `%*%` matrix multiplication and indexed variable names (1.6.0). Separately, Pareto diagnostics have grown from `pareto_smooth()` options and individual `pareto_khat()`-family functions (1.6.0) through `pit()` for draws and rvars (1.6.1) to exported generalized-Pareto functions and `pareto_pit` (1.7.0). 1.7.1 is a paperwork release for a JOSS submission.
What is tidyposterior?
A finished Bayesian model-comparison package in pure maintenance mode
tidyposterior compares model performance using Bayesian resampling analysis, and it reached its intended shape years ago. Every release since 1.0.0 has been maintenance: a broken test under R-devel, a maintainer email change, and most recently compatibility with an upcoming ggplot2 release plus the base-pipe transition. The substantive API decisions — autoplot() over ggplot() methods, tibble returns from contrast_models() — were settled in the 0.x series.
posterior vs tidyposterior: editorial side-by-side
posterior
0.0ANALYTICS
posterior keeps deepening two things: the rvar type and Pareto-based diagnostics.
◆ Current state
The releases in this window advance on two fronts. The rvar random-variable type gained factor and ordered subtypes (1.4.0), rvar-indexed slicing and `rvar_ifelse()` (1.5.0), base `%*%` matrix multiplication and indexed variable names (1.6.0). Separately, Pareto diagnostics have grown from `pareto_smooth()` options and individual `pareto_khat()`-family functions (1.6.0) through `pit()` for draws and rvars (1.6.1) to exported generalized-Pareto functions and `pareto_pit` (1.7.0). 1.7.1 is a paperwork release for a JOSS submission.
◆ Where it's heading
posterior is positioning itself as shared infrastructure rather than an end-user package: 1.7.0 explicitly exports generalized-Pareto machinery 'for use in other packages', and the JOSS paper is a citation vehicle for the same audience. The rvar work points the same way — a random-variable type other Bayesian packages can build on. Cadence is steady but unhurried, roughly one feature release a year.
◆ Prediction
More diagnostic functions are likely to be exported for downstream reuse, following the pattern 1.7.0 established with the generalized-Pareto helpers.
tidyposterior
0.0ANALYTICS
A finished Bayesian model-comparison package in pure maintenance mode
◆ Current state
tidyposterior compares model performance using Bayesian resampling analysis, and it reached its intended shape years ago. Every release since 1.0.0 has been maintenance: a broken test under R-devel, a maintainer email change, and most recently compatibility with an upcoming ggplot2 release plus the base-pipe transition. The substantive API decisions — autoplot() over ggplot() methods, tibble returns from contrast_models() — were settled in the 0.x series.
◆ Where it's heading
The package tracks its dependencies rather than developing on its own line, and the dependencies do the moving: rstanarm API changes, dplyr 1.0.0, testthat 3e, ggplot2. Its integration surface widened once, when perf_mod() gained methods for tuning parameter objects from tune, finetune, and workflowsets, and has been stable since. This is what a completed package in an active ecosystem looks like.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to be triggered by an upstream change rather than by anything tidyposterior wants to do differently.
Alternatives to posterior and tidyposterior
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 posterior or tidyposterior.
writexl
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
rgbif
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
rstanarm
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
taxa
taxa started a ground-up rewrite in 2021 and has published almost nothing since.
rotl
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
See all posterior alternatives → · See all tidyposterior alternatives →
Recent activity from posterior and tidyposterior
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agoposteriorposterior 1.7.1 released for JOSS paper
- 3mo agoposteriorposterior 1.7.0 exports generalized-Pareto functions
- 10mo agoposteriorposterior 1.6.1 adds pit() for draws and rvars
- 1y agotidyposteriortidyposterior 1.0.1.9000 prepares for an upcoming ggplot2 release
- 1y agoposteriorposterior 1.6.0 adds Pareto diagnostics and ESS-based thinning
- 2y agoposteriorposterior 1.5.0 adds nested-Rhat and rvar indexing
- 2y agotidyposteriortidyposterior 1.0.1 fixes a test broken under R-devel
- 3y agoposteriorposterior 1.4.0 adds factor and ordered rvar subtypes
- 4y agotidyposteriortidyposterior 1.0.0 modernizes internals to pivot_longer and testthat 3e
- 5y agotidyposteriortidyposterior 0.1.0 adds perf_mod() methods for tune and workflowsets
- 6y agotidyposteriortidyposterior 0.0.3 returns tibbles and adds a formula override
- 7y agotidyposteriortidyposterior 0.0.2 removes example RData files for CRAN
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between posterior and tidyposterior?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. posterior and tidyposterior 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 posterior better than tidyposterior?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. posterior and tidyposterior 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 posterior?
Top posterior alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "posterior alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/posterior for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to tidyposterior?
Top tidyposterior alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "tidyposterior alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tidyposterior for the full list with editorial commentary on each.