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A 4.4.0 tag appears, but the feed carries only its release plumbing
Comparison · Analytics
distributions3 vs ravetools
A side-by-side editorial comparison of distributions3 and ravetools — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
distributions3 vs ravetools: at a glance
What is distributions3?
distributions3 0.3.0 adds sample-based distributions and likelihood derivatives
An R package giving probability distributions a consistent object interface - d/p/q/r functions, moments, and prodist() methods that pull a fitted distribution out of a regression object. Version 0.3.0 is the first substantive release under Achim Zeileis's maintenance, and it widens what a distribution is allowed to be: Empirical() represents a distribution by a random sample rather than by parameters, and numerical fallbacks now fill in cdf(), pdf(), quantile(), random() and the moments for any object that implements only some of them. New score() and hessian() generics compute first and second derivatives of the log-likelihood with respect to the parameters, analytically for a few distributions and numerically for the rest.
What is ravetools?
RAVE's signal-processing toolkit taught base R graphics to render lit 3D brain meshes.
ravetools supplies the signal processing and now the rendering primitives behind RAVE, a suite for analyzing intracranial electroencephalography. Its earlier releases built out Matlab-equivalent filtering, Welch spectra and wavelet tooling; 0.2.6 changes register entirely, adding plot_mesh_dotcloud and plot_mesh_polygon to draw 3D surface meshes in base R graphics with no rgl dependency, plus arbitrary clipping planes and per-mesh alpha.
distributions3 vs ravetools: editorial side-by-side
distributions3
6.3ANALYTICS
distributions3 0.3.0 adds sample-based distributions and likelihood derivatives
◆ Current state
An R package giving probability distributions a consistent object interface - d/p/q/r functions, moments, and prodist() methods that pull a fitted distribution out of a regression object. Version 0.3.0 is the first substantive release under Achim Zeileis's maintenance, and it widens what a distribution is allowed to be: Empirical() represents a distribution by a random sample rather than by parameters, and numerical fallbacks now fill in cdf(), pdf(), quantile(), random() and the moments for any object that implements only some of them. New score() and hessian() generics compute first and second derivatives of the log-likelihood with respect to the parameters, analytically for a few distributions and numerically for the rest.
◆ Where it's heading
Growth used to arrive as new distribution families contributed from outside - the extreme-value set, Erlang, later the Poisson binomial. This release changes the axis: alongside two new distributions it adds an inference layer (score, hessian) and a forecast-evaluation one (crps() methods against scoringRules), which are capabilities about distributions rather than more of them. Dependency weight is being cut at the same time, with ggplot2 demoted to Suggests and glue replaced by base R sprintf().
◆ Prediction
With numeric fallbacks and the derivative generics in place, expect analytic score() and hessian() methods to be filled in across more of the distribution catalogue. The constructor-default change is the likeliest source of follow-up fixes, since calls like Poisson() now return a length-zero distribution where they previously errored.
ravetools
0.0ANALYTICS
RAVE's signal-processing toolkit taught base R graphics to render lit 3D brain meshes.
◆ Current state
ravetools supplies the signal processing and now the rendering primitives behind RAVE, a suite for analyzing intracranial electroencephalography. Its earlier releases built out Matlab-equivalent filtering, Welch spectra and wavelet tooling; 0.2.6 changes register entirely, adding plot_mesh_dotcloud and plot_mesh_polygon to draw 3D surface meshes in base R graphics with no rgl dependency, plus arbitrary clipping planes and per-mesh alpha.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is absorbing the visualization layer that RAVE previously delegated to WebGL-backed renderers, and doing it in a way that works in headless and figure-generating contexts. Exporting ensure_mesh3d to coerce mesh3d, ieegio_surface, fs.surface and surf.asc into one canonical form makes ravetools the convergence point for surface formats across the wider toolchain — the sibling ieegio package shipped its own base R plot method within minutes of this release.
◆ Prediction
Expect the base R renderers to pick up the features rgl users would miss next — richer materials, labeling and camera control — and for more of the RAVE stack to route surface handling through ensure_mesh3d.
Alternatives to distributions3 and ravetools
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 distributions3 or ravetools.
Basedash
Basedash keeps pushing its data out of the workspace — now to people without accounts
RStudio
RStudio ships through release branches, and the notes are commit messages
dbt Core
dbt Fusion's second beta is adapter work: ClickHouse gets materializations, indexes, and catalogs
Fulcrum
Fulcrum is betting its whole map stack on Esri, with a hard Google Maps cutoff on September 1.
Holistics
Holistics keeps fencing in the AI layer it spent the summer building.
See all distributions3 alternatives → · See all ravetools alternatives →
Recent activity from distributions3 and ravetools
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5h agodistributions3Empirical distributions, plus score and hessian generics ⚡
- 29d agodistributions3Maintenance moves to Achim Zeileis; moment calculations corrected
- 2mo agoravetools3D mesh rendering arrives in base R, without rgl ⚡
- 10mo agodistributions3ggplot2 compatibility for the plotting functions
- 1y agoravetoolsravetools 0.2.1
- 1y agodistributions3Poisson binomial distribution, with a normal-approximation fallback
- 3y agoravetoolsStimulation interpolation and faster quantiles
- 3y agodistributions3is_discrete and is_continuous generics, plus elementwise type-safety
- 4y agodistributions3Extreme-value family, Erlang, and a plotting generic
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between distributions3 and ravetools?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. distributions3 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 distributions3 better than ravetools?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. distributions3 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 Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to distributions3?
Top distributions3 alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "distributions3 alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/distributions3-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ravetools?
Top ravetools alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ravetools alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ravetools-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.