PurpleAir
The R client for PurpleAir sensors keeps finding its time-averaging was wrong.
Comparison · Analytics
probmed vs slope
A side-by-side editorial comparison of probmed and slope — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
probmed vs slope: at a glance
What is probmed?
probmed went from one probabilistic effect size to a family of them in sixteen days.
probmed computes P_med, a scale-free probabilistic effect size for causal mediation, as part of the Data-Wise mediationverse alongside medfit, medsim and RMediation. Three releases in three weeks took it from a single estimator to four additional families built on a shared cross-fitted corner-EIF core, covering gauge-calibrated, incremental-elasticity and Sobol variance-share versions of the proportion mediated. Distribution is GitHub and r-universe rather than CRAN, with a load-bearing Remotes pin on medfit.
What is slope?
A year after gutting itself for a C++ rewrite, SLOPE is back to polishing the interface
SLOPE fits sorted L-one penalized regression models. In July 2025 it replaced its entire solver with the external libslope C++ library, removing the ADMM solver, dropping debugging fields, changing alpha scaling and warning users directly that the breakage was extensive. The releases since have rebuilt convenience on top of that core: summary() and refit() methods for cross-validated objects, automatic refitting in cvSLOPE(), and a threading default reduced from half the available cores to one.
probmed vs slope: editorial side-by-side
probmed
0.0ANALYTICS
probmed went from one probabilistic effect size to a family of them in sixteen days.
◆ Current state
probmed computes P_med, a scale-free probabilistic effect size for causal mediation, as part of the Data-Wise mediationverse alongside medfit, medsim and RMediation. Three releases in three weeks took it from a single estimator to four additional families built on a shared cross-fitted corner-EIF core, covering gauge-calibrated, incremental-elasticity and Sobol variance-share versions of the proportion mediated. Distribution is GitHub and r-universe rather than CRAN, with a load-bearing Remotes pin on medfit.
◆ Where it's heading
The pace is manuscript-driven — estimators arrive with their citations attached and vignettes alongside, and the 0.1.0 notes correct the estimand itself against a manuscript definition rather than fixing a bug in code. Each release adds inference machinery as well as point estimates: percentile-bootstrap intervals and Fieller sets in 0.3.0, a deterministic MBCO interval in 0.2.0 that avoids resampling entirely. The gauge residual and the pmed_sensitivity() helper suggest a growing concern with when the estimand does not decompose at all.
◆ Prediction
0.3.0 shipped a sensitivity helper for shared mediator-outcome confounding and a diagnostic that flags non-decomposability, so the next release most likely extends that diagnostic side rather than adding a fifth estimator family.
slope
0.0ANALYTICS
A year after gutting itself for a C++ rewrite, SLOPE is back to polishing the interface
◆ Current state
SLOPE fits sorted L-one penalized regression models. In July 2025 it replaced its entire solver with the external libslope C++ library, removing the ADMM solver, dropping debugging fields, changing alpha scaling and warning users directly that the breakage was extensive. The releases since have rebuilt convenience on top of that core: summary() and refit() methods for cross-validated objects, automatic refitting in cvSLOPE(), and a threading default reduced from half the available cores to one.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc runs rewrite, then repair, then convenience. The 1.2.0 release is the repair phase — coefficients_scaled was returning unscaled values, which silently affected every coef.SLOPE() call — and 2.0.0 onward is convenience, with refit() now working without re-supplying training data. The tag timestamps are non-monotonic: 1.0.1 is stamped a minute after 1.1.0 despite the lower version, so ordering here reflects when tags were pushed, not what superseded what.
◆ Prediction
With the cross-validation workflow now closing itself out through automatic refitting, further work is more likely to extend the summary and plotting surface than to touch the solver again.
Alternatives to probmed and slope
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 probmed or slope.
piecepackr
A board game graphics package runs one of the most disciplined deprecation cycles in R.
e2tree
The explainable-ensemble-tree package now measures whether its own explanations are faithful.
discretefdr
The discrete-data FDR package is being pared into one piece of a larger multiple-testing suite.
contentanalysis
A scientific-text analysis package moved from counting citations to classifying argument structure.
relialearnr
The teaching arm of an R reliability suite keeps pace with whatever its analysis siblings ship.
See all probmed alternatives → · See all slope alternatives →
Recent activity from probmed and slope
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agoprobmedFour estimator families on a cross-fitted corner-EIF core ⚡
- 2mo agoprobmedParallel mediators and a resampling-free MBCO interval ⚡
- 2mo agoprobmedFirst release: pmed() with the estimand corrected
- 2mo agosloperefit() defaults to training data; class-mismatch scoring fixed
- 6mo agoslopeCross-validation now refits automatically and gains summary methods
- 9mo agoslopeSingle-threaded by default, interruptible, and a scaling bug fixed
- 9mo agoslopeM1 Mac test fix
- 9mo agoslopeGlioma gene expression dataset added
- 1y agoslopeSLOPE 1.0.0 ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between probmed and slope?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. probmed and slope 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 probmed better than slope?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. probmed and slope 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 probmed?
Top probmed alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "probmed alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/probmed for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to slope?
Top slope alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "slope alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/slope for the full list with editorial commentary on each.