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seriation vs tern.mmrm

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

seriation vs tern.mmrm: at a glance

Featureseriationtern.mmrm
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesseriation, matrix-reordering, optimization, clusteringpharmaverse, mmrm, tabulation, maintenance
Last editorial update2h ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is seriation?

seriation stopped shipping algorithms and started shipping a way to pick between them.

seriation finds meaningful orderings for matrices, distance objects and dendrograms, and carries a large registry of methods from classic combinatorial criteria to t-SNE and UMAP embeddings. The 1.5.0 release added a layer above that registry — seriate_best(), seriate_rep() and seriate_improve() — which run randomized methods repeatedly, in parallel, and keep the best result. Recent work is definitional and numeric rather than additive: 1.5.8 corrects the linear seriation criterion to match Hubert and Schultz's original 1976 definition.

Read the full seriation trajectory →

What is tern.mmrm?

An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.

tern.mmrm wraps mixed models for repeated measures into the tern tabulation and plotting layer used by teal clinical modules. The visible history ends with three CRAN releases in mid-to-late 2024; before that the feed carries only automated version bumps from 2022, three of which have just been backfilled into the record. The most recent substantive change adds axis limit arguments to the LS-means plot.

Read the full tern.mmrm trajectory →

seriation vs tern.mmrm: editorial side-by-side

S
seriation
ANALYTICS
0.0

seriation stopped shipping algorithms and started shipping a way to pick between them.

◆ Current state

seriation finds meaningful orderings for matrices, distance objects and dendrograms, and carries a large registry of methods from classic combinatorial criteria to t-SNE and UMAP embeddings. The 1.5.0 release added a layer above that registry — seriate_best(), seriate_rep() and seriate_improve() — which run randomized methods repeatedly, in parallel, and keep the best result. Recent work is definitional and numeric rather than additive: 1.5.8 corrects the linear seriation criterion to match Hubert and Schultz's original 1976 definition.

◆ Where it's heading

The package has shifted from breadth to judgment. Through 1.3.x the additions were new methods; from 1.5.0 the registry started carrying metadata about the methods — whether they are randomized, what criterion they optimize — so the package could choose and evaluate on the user's behalf. The 1.5.6 replacement of FORTRAN with C for BEA and ME points the same way, reducing the legacy surface underneath that machinery.

◆ Prediction

Further criterion audits are the likeliest next move, since 1.5.8 shows a published definition being reconciled against the implementation and the registry now records what each method optimizes. Expect corrections rather than new seriation algorithms.

T
tern.mmrm
ANALYTICS
0.0

An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.

◆ Current state

tern.mmrm wraps mixed models for repeated measures into the tern tabulation and plotting layer used by teal clinical modules. The visible history ends with three CRAN releases in mid-to-late 2024; before that the feed carries only automated version bumps from 2022, three of which have just been backfilled into the record. The most recent substantive change adds axis limit arguments to the LS-means plot.

◆ Where it's heading

Content per release is thin and largely organisational: a maintainer change, replacing scda with random.cdisc.data in vignettes, and adapting to new {mmrm} versions. The package appears to be in maintenance, tracking its upstream dependency rather than developing independently. The 2022 entries now visible are release-automation commits, not releases in any meaningful sense.

◆ Prediction

Nothing here signals new functionality; the realistic next event is another compatibility release when {mmrm} or {rtables} changes underneath it.

Alternatives to seriation and tern.mmrm

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 seriation or tern.mmrm.

See all seriation alternatives → · See all tern.mmrm alternatives →

Recent activity from seriation and tern.mmrm

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

  1. 0y agoseriationseriation 1.5.8 realigns linear criterion with Hubert and Schultz
  2. 1y agoseriationseriation 1.5.7 adds BK_unconstrained, handles tiny inputs
  3. 1y agotern.mmrmAxis limits added to the LS-means plot
  4. 1y agoseriationseriation 1.5.6 replaces FORTRAN BEA with C, modernizes allocation
  5. 2y agotern.mmrmMaintainer change and scda replaced in vignettes
  6. 2y agotern.mmrmCRAN 0.3.0 release, mostly workflow housekeeping
  7. 2y agoseriationseriation 1.5.5 digest: AOE method, rep parameter, MDS_angle fix
  8. 3y agoseriationseriation 1.5.1 refines pimage, permute and hmap
  9. 3y agoseriationseriation 1.5.0 adds seriate_best and parallel repeated search
  10. 3y agotern.mmrmAutomated version bump to 0.2.1
  11. 3y agotern.mmrmPre-release branch merge
  12. 4y agotern.mmrmCI automation commit, no release content

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between seriation and tern.mmrm?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. seriation and tern.mmrm 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 seriation better than tern.mmrm?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. seriation and tern.mmrm 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 seriation?

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

What are the best alternatives to tern.mmrm?

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