ggpointless
ggpointless keeps adding the ggplot2 layers nobody else bothered to write.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
prova vs surveytidy
A side-by-side editorial comparison of prova and surveytidy — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-packages
prova vs surveytidy: at a glance
What is prova?
prova adds expected-utility calculation on top of its Bayesian inference core.
prova does Bayesian nonparametric inference in R — probabilities through Pr() and qPr(), mutual information, quantile plots. Five releases in about two weeks renamed its central argument, collapsed two plotting functions into one, and then in v2.3.0 introduced exputility() for expected utilities and their revisability, with plot() and print() methods attached from the start.
What is surveytidy?
surveytidy taught every dplyr verb to operate on a whole collection of surveys at once.
surveytidy is the tidyverse-facing half of a two-package survey stack, wrapping survey design objects from surveycore so filter, mutate, select and the rest work on them while carrying variable labels, value labels and a transformation log alongside the data. The May release extended that verb surface to survey_collection, the abstraction surveycore uses to hold several surveys as one object, so a pipeline written once dispatches across every member.
prova vs surveytidy: editorial side-by-side
prova
6.3INFRA · APIS
prova adds expected-utility calculation on top of its Bayesian inference core.
◆ Current state
prova does Bayesian nonparametric inference in R — probabilities through Pr() and qPr(), mutual information, quantile plots. Five releases in about two weeks renamed its central argument, collapsed two plotting functions into one, and then in v2.3.0 introduced exputility() for expected utilities and their revisability, with plot() and print() methods attached from the start.
◆ Where it's heading
Two arcs run in parallel. One compresses the API: learnt= became K=, flexiplot() and plotquantiles() merged into pplot(), and omitting arguments such as Y=, X= and K= got simpler. The other extends reach — mutualinfoF() for finite-domain variates, quantile accuracy reported alongside mutual information, and now a decision-theoretic layer sitting on the inference the package already did.
◆ Prediction
exputility() shipping with print() and plot() methods matches how the probability and mutual-information classes were treated, so utilities are likely to get the same class-based handling as they mature. The notes do not say whether decision analysis extends beyond expected utility.
surveytidy
0.0INFRA · APIS
surveytidy taught every dplyr verb to operate on a whole collection of surveys at once.
◆ Current state
surveytidy is the tidyverse-facing half of a two-package survey stack, wrapping survey design objects from surveycore so filter, mutate, select and the rest work on them while carrying variable labels, value labels and a transformation log alongside the data. The May release extended that verb surface to survey_collection, the abstraction surveycore uses to hold several surveys as one object, so a pipeline written once dispatches across every member.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is being built in two layers that arrive in order: vector-level transformations first, structural dispatch second. The make_* family in 0.4.0 handles the recoding that survey work actually consists of — labelled to factor, multi-level to dichotomous, scale reversal, valence flipping — with value labels propagating automatically. Collection support then applies data-masking, tidyselect, grouping, slicing and collapsing verbs per survey, with joins explicitly refused and a typed message reporting which surveys were skipped. Metadata fidelity is the recurring bug source: labels surviving across(), stale labels left behind by recoding, the transformation log keeping up with what the verbs did.
◆ Prediction
Joins are the one verb family that errors on collections, with users directed to join before constructing the collection, so that restriction is the clearest outstanding gap. The re-export of surveycore's collection constructors suggests the package is positioning itself as the single import users need, which points toward more re-exports as surveycore's stable API settles.
Alternatives to prova and surveytidy
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 prova or surveytidy.
mpactr
mpactr spent two spring releases normalizing case in metadata after users kept tripping on it.
surveycore
surveycore declared its API stable with every survey design type covered.
PEIMAN2
PEIMAN2 cut its annotation database loose from its release cycle without breaking CRAN.
prospectr
prospectr spent its biggest release in years fixing spectra it had been quietly mangling.
standardlastprofile
A German electricity load-profile package added gas and doubled the market it serves.
See all prova alternatives → · See all surveytidy alternatives →
Recent activity from prova and surveytidy
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 13d agoprovaexputility() brings decision analysis into prova ⚡
- 20d agoprovaCumulative 2.x notes, plus hist() and mutual-information changes
- 23d agoprovalearnt= becomes K=; pplot() replaces two plot functions
- 28d agoprovaFix for pre-existing parallel clusters
- 28d agoprovaextraDistr dropped; mutual-information objects get a class
- 2mo agosurveytidymutate() syncs metadata for across() recodes
- 3mo agosurveytidydplyr and tidyr verbs dispatch across survey collections
- 5mo agosurveytidyFive label-aware recoding functions for use inside mutate()
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between prova and surveytidy?
Both compete on the same themes — r-packages — within Infra & APIs. prova is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is prova better than surveytidy?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. prova is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to prova?
Top prova alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "prova alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/prova for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to surveytidy?
Top surveytidy alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "surveytidy alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/surveytidy for the full list with editorial commentary on each.