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M

mize

INFRA · APIS
Velocity0.0

Unconstrained Numerical Optimization Algorithms

github.com/jlmelville/mize ↗

A numerical optimization toolkit that has been feature-complete and quiet since 2017

optimizationr-packagenumerical-methodsmaintenanceline-search
◆Current state
mize provides a configurable interface to unconstrained numerical optimization methods - line searches, gradient descent variants, quasi-Newton updates - usable both as a one-shot call and as a stepwise iterator. Its functional surface has not changed since the initial CRAN release in July 2017. Every release since has been a patch: R-devel compatibility, line search edge cases, and in 2026's 0.2.5 the removal of LazyData from DESCRIPTION plus deletion of some flaky tests.
◆Where it's heading
The pattern is a stable library rather than an abandoned one. Fixes address real reports - a bracket_step error when the Schmidt line search exhausts its function evaluation budget, an incorrect gradient count under backtracking with a specified step_down - and the maintainer used one release note to clarify that backtracking behaviour differs depending on whether step_down is supplied, which reads as answering a recurring question. The five and a half year gap between 0.2.4 and 0.2.5 is the clearest signal: the package is maintained on demand, not developed.
◆Prediction
Expect nothing until an R or CRAN policy change forces another compliance patch, which is what triggered the most recent release.

◆Recent moves

  1. 6mo ago

    CRAN compliance patch after five years of silence

    Removes LazyData from DESCRIPTION and deletes flaky unit tests. Notable only for breaking a five and a half year gap since the previous release, and for containing nothing a user of the package would notice.

    View source ↗
  2. 5y ago

    Backtracking line search reporting and documentation fix

    Corrects an inflated gradient-evaluation count reported when backtracking is used with an explicit step_down, and documents that omitting step_down silently switches to interpolation using both function and gradient evaluations. The documentation half is arguably the more useful, since that difference is invisible from the call.

    View source ↗
  3. 6y ago

    R-devel compatibility fix for class checking

    Replaces a direct class check that assumed a scalar value with methods::is, an incompatibility R-devel surfaced. One of two such patches in the package's history.

    View source ↗
  4. 7y ago

    Schmidt line search error when the evaluation budget is exhausted

    Fixes a bracket_step not found error triggered when the Schmidt line search exceeds ls_max_fn, reported by a user. A genuine edge case in the optimizer, though narrow enough to have gone unnoticed for two years.

    View source ↗
  5. 7y ago

    Stage check fix for bold driver and backtracking

    Corrects an incorrectly checked stage in the bold driver and backtracking line search combination. The note candidly records that the fix reached CRAN months before this GitHub release was cut.

    View source ↗
  6. 9y ago

    CRAN release 0.1.1

    The initial CRAN release, announced in one sentence with no description of contents. Everything the package does was present at this point; the eight years since have added no functionality.

    View source ↗