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quantities vs shapviz

A side-by-side editorial comparison of quantities and shapviz — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

quantities vs shapviz: at a glance

Featurequantitiesshapviz
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesunits, measurement-uncertainty, error-propagation, r-packageshap, visualization, model explainability, ggplot2
Last editorial update1h ago10h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is quantities?

The glue package that makes R carry units and uncertainty through the same calculation.

quantities combines the units and errors packages into one class so values keep both their measurement units and their uncertainty through arithmetic, subsetting and data frame operations. Recent releases have been narrow: fixes to the covariance and correlation implementations, and performance work on the data.frame methods. Most of the release traffic is coordination with its two parent packages.

Read the full quantities trajectory →

What is shapviz?

shapviz refines its SHAP plots release by release while chasing ggplot2's moving target.

shapviz turns SHAP values from XGBoost, LightGBM, H2O, kernelshap and other sources into standard diagnostic plots — importance, dependence, waterfall, force and interaction. Recent work is plot ergonomics: shared y-axis control across dependence plots, a bar view for interaction values, and axis collection via patchwork. The two most recent releases are pure compatibility and bug fixes.

Read the full shapviz trajectory →

quantities vs shapviz: editorial side-by-side

Q
quantities
ANALYTICS
0.0

The glue package that makes R carry units and uncertainty through the same calculation.

◆ Current state

quantities combines the units and errors packages into one class so values keep both their measurement units and their uncertainty through arithmetic, subsetting and data frame operations. Recent releases have been narrow: fixes to the covariance and correlation implementations, and performance work on the data.frame methods. Most of the release traffic is coordination with its two parent packages.

◆ Where it's heading

The design settled with 0.2.0, which made uncertainty unit-aware and added correlation and covariance support for quantities objects. Since then the package behaves like the integration layer it is — releasing when units, errors, dplyr or ggplot2 shift underneath it rather than on its own schedule. Several releases consist only of test repairs against upstream changes.

◆ Prediction

Expect the next release to follow a units or errors change rather than introduce new behaviour of its own.

S
shapviz
ANALYTICS
0.0

shapviz refines its SHAP plots release by release while chasing ggplot2's moving target.

◆ Current state

shapviz turns SHAP values from XGBoost, LightGBM, H2O, kernelshap and other sources into standard diagnostic plots — importance, dependence, waterfall, force and interaction. Recent work is plot ergonomics: shared y-axis control across dependence plots, a bar view for interaction values, and axis collection via patchwork. The two most recent releases are pure compatibility and bug fixes.

◆ Where it's heading

Two threads run in parallel here. One is visual refinement converging on conventions from Python's shap — the 0.10.0 notes openly float switching share_y to TRUE to match it. The other is connector maintenance, keeping pace with H2O, XGBoost 1.x and 2.x, shapr and permshap as each changes. Neither thread adds new explanation methods; shapviz's job is presentation, and it is being polished rather than extended.

◆ Prediction

Expect share_y = TRUE to become the default and further ggplot2 4.x fallout, with connector updates arriving as the upstream SHAP packages release.

Alternatives to quantities and shapviz

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 quantities or shapviz.

See all quantities alternatives → · See all shapviz alternatives →

Recent activity from quantities and shapviz

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 10mo agoshapvizggplot 4.0 compatibility fix
  2. 1y agoshapvizFixes duplicated bars in sv_interaction()
  3. 1y agoshapvizggplot2 and patchwork dependency bumps
  4. 1y agoshapvizShared y-axis control and bar-style interaction plots
  5. 1y agoshapvizH2O random forests gain TreeSHAP support
  6. 1y agoquantitiesFixes covariance and correlation implementations
  7. 1y agoshapvizFixes a broken vignette link
  8. 2y agoquantitiesFaster data.frame methods
  9. 3y agoquantitiesTest fixes for an upstream units change
  10. 3y agoquantitiesUncertainty becomes unit-aware; adds correlation support
  11. 5y agoquantitiesCompatibility fix for units 0.7-0
  12. 6y agoquantitiesFixes uncertainty propagation for offset unit conversions

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between quantities and shapviz?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. quantities and shapviz 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 quantities better than shapviz?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. quantities and shapviz 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 quantities?

Top quantities alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "quantities alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/quantities for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to shapviz?

Top shapviz alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "shapviz alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/shapviz for the full list with editorial commentary on each.