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Comparison · Analytics
spatstat vs TAF
A side-by-side editorial comparison of spatstat and TAF — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
spatstat vs TAF: at a glance
What is spatstat?
The spatstat umbrella package, now mostly a pointer to the sub-packages doing the work
spatstat is the front package of a family that was split into specialised components — spatstat.geom, spatstat.random, spatstat.model, spatstat.explore, spatstat.univar and spatstat.sparse. Its own release notes reflect that: entries in this window are largely announcements of where the real changes landed, plus documentation and cross-reference maintenance. The codebase it fronts passed 200,000 lines as of 3.5-1.
What is TAF?
TAF keeps turning ICES stock assessments into reproducible, dependency-pinned projects.
TAF is the R tooling behind the ICES Transparent Assessment Framework, which standardizes how fish stock assessments are laid out, sourced and rerun. The 4.3.0 release is the largest in years, adding roughly ten functions covering dependency installation and analysis, software version checks, directory inspection and README drafting. The package has carried zero non-base dependencies since 4.0.0, and the new work is careful not to break that.
spatstat vs TAF: editorial side-by-side
spatstat
0.0ANALYTICS
The spatstat umbrella package, now mostly a pointer to the sub-packages doing the work
◆ Current state
spatstat is the front package of a family that was split into specialised components — spatstat.geom, spatstat.random, spatstat.model, spatstat.explore, spatstat.univar and spatstat.sparse. Its own release notes reflect that: entries in this window are largely announcements of where the real changes landed, plus documentation and cross-reference maintenance. The codebase it fronts passed 200,000 lines as of 3.5-1.
◆ Where it's heading
The split is effectively complete and the umbrella's role has settled into coordination — tracking version dependencies across sub-packages and pointing users to them. The family has kept subdividing over this period, with spatstat.univar joining in 3.1-0. The one substantive user-facing addition here is documentation infrastructure: 3.3-0 added the ability to list the history of changes to a specific function, which is a navigational answer to a codebase now spread across many packages.
◆ Prediction
Expect this package's notes to continue summarising sub-package activity rather than carrying features of its own, since every release in this window does exactly that. Read spatstat.geom, spatstat.random and spatstat.model for the substance.
TAF
0.0ANALYTICS
TAF keeps turning ICES stock assessments into reproducible, dependency-pinned projects.
◆ Current state
TAF is the R tooling behind the ICES Transparent Assessment Framework, which standardizes how fish stock assessments are laid out, sourced and rerun. The 4.3.0 release is the largest in years, adding roughly ten functions covering dependency installation and analysis, software version checks, directory inspection and README drafting. The package has carried zero non-base dependencies since 4.0.0, and the new work is careful not to break that.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc runs from analysis runner to project toolkit. Early 3.x releases built out the bootstrap and metadata machinery; 4.0.0 renamed the package and stripped every external dependency; 4.2.0 cleaned up vocabulary that confused users. 4.3.0 turns outward to the people running assessments — install.deps(), pdeps() and check.software() address reproducing someone else's environment, while draft.readme(), taf.example() and dir.tree() address understanding an unfamiliar project.
◆ Prediction
Expect the follow-up work to harden the new dependency functions rather than add more surface, since 4.3.1 arrived immediately to fix wide2long() compatibility with older R and that batch of ten functions has had little field exposure.
Alternatives to spatstat and TAF
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 spatstat or TAF.
geodist
geodist stays dependency-free and fast, and warns you when 'cheap' distances stop being honest.
errors
errors keeps making uncertainty print the way each scientific field expects.
CMAQ
CMAQ went global in v5.5, and has been patching that surface ever since.
enpls
enpls has not changed its statistics since 2016 — only its website, twice.
grex
grex is a lookup table with a version number — it ships when the annotation moves.
See all spatstat alternatives → · See all TAF alternatives →
Recent activity from spatstat and TAF
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agospatstatSub-package updates across sparse, univar and random
- 6mo agospatstatspatstat passes 200,000 lines of code
- 10mo agospatstatNew vignette documenting NA spatial objects
- 10mo agoTAFTAF 4.3.1 reworks wide2long() for older R
- 10mo agoTAFTAF 4.3.0 adds dependency and project-scaffolding tooling
- 1y agospatstatPer-function change history now listable
- 2y agospatstatspatstat.univar joins the package family
- 3y agoTAFTAF 4.2.0 renames 'bootstrap' to 'boot', keeps back-compat
- 3y agospatstatSub-package cross-references and docs corrected
- 3y agoTAFTAF 4.1.0 adds taf2html() and dot.case function aliases
- 5y agoTAFTAF 4.0.0 refocuses on ICES and drops every external dependency ⚡
- 5y agoTAFTAF 3.6.0 adds metadata tooling and drops the bibtex dependency
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between spatstat and TAF?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. spatstat and TAF 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 spatstat better than TAF?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. spatstat and TAF 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 spatstat?
Top spatstat alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "spatstat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/spatstat-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to TAF?
Top TAF alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "TAF alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/taf-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.