vcfR
A genomics workhorse whose visible release feed stops dead in mid-2020.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
fastpos vs trackeR
A side-by-side editorial comparison of fastpos and trackeR — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
fastpos vs trackeR: at a glance
What is fastpos?
Dormant three years, then a two-line release nobody using it would notice
fastpos finds the critical point of stability for a Pearson correlation, a simulation problem whose C++ implementation is the entire reason the package exists. Its substantive work concluded in 2022 with 0.5.0, the release prepared during R Journal review, which renamed the precision parameters, moved multicore work to pbapply and let users set corridor limits directly. After three years of silence, 0.6.0 removes an internal restriction to cpp11 and changes index_pop to an integer.
What is trackeR?
Fitness-tracking analysis in slow maintenance, still absorbing upstream breakage.
trackeR reads GPS and fitness-tracker files in TCX, GPX and JSON form and turns them into session data, distribution and concentration profiles, and route plots. Feature work concentrated in the 1.5 series in 2019; the two releases since are corrective. The latest swaps the plot layout dependencies for patchwork and fixes plot_route() returning nothing.
fastpos vs trackeR: editorial side-by-side
fastpos
0.0INFRA · APIS
Dormant three years, then a two-line release nobody using it would notice
◆ Current state
fastpos finds the critical point of stability for a Pearson correlation, a simulation problem whose C++ implementation is the entire reason the package exists. Its substantive work concluded in 2022 with 0.5.0, the release prepared during R Journal review, which renamed the precision parameters, moved multicore work to pbapply and let users set corridor limits directly. After three years of silence, 0.6.0 removes an internal restriction to cpp11 and changes index_pop to an integer.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a finished piece of research software in low-effort upkeep. The changelog's centre of gravity is the R Journal review process, and once that concluded the package stopped changing. The single release since is toolchain work of the kind that keeps a package compiling rather than anything a user would see.
◆ Prediction
Expect nothing beyond occasional compilation or CRAN-check fixes unless the accompanying paper draws requests for other correlation types or resampling schemes.
trackeR
0.0INFRA · APIS
Fitness-tracking analysis in slow maintenance, still absorbing upstream breakage.
◆ Current state
trackeR reads GPS and fitness-tracker files in TCX, GPX and JSON form and turns them into session data, distribution and concentration profiles, and route plots. Feature work concentrated in the 1.5 series in 2019; the two releases since are corrective. The latest swaps the plot layout dependencies for patchwork and fixes plot_route() returning nothing.
◆ Where it's heading
Recent releases track other people's changes: ggmap moving to Stadia maps, gridExtra giving way to patchwork, a cadence field being read into the wrong column. The 2019 entries are where the analysis surface was built out, with cumulative elevation gain, compressed file reading and elevation-noise thresholds, and it has not moved much since.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to be another compatibility or parsing fix rather than a new metric.
Alternatives to fastpos and trackeR
Other Infra & APIs 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 fastpos or trackeR.
dialr
The R phone-number package stopped only parsing numbers and started asking them where they are.
ggVennDiagram
A Venn diagram package whose public release notes say almost nothing — including about its copyright cleanup.
ordinalsimr
A Shiny app for choosing the right ordinal test reached CRAN in a single 90-minute burst of tags.
transltr
A new R localization package that reached CRAN and immediately downgraded itself to experimental.
hereR
An R client for HERE's location APIs, shaped almost entirely by what the vendor exposes next.
See all fastpos alternatives → · See all trackeR alternatives →
Recent activity from fastpos and trackeR
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 10mo agofastposcpp11 restriction removed; index_pop now an integer
- 11mo agotrackeRplot_route() fixed; plot layout moved to patchwork
- 2y agotrackeRTCX cadence bug fixed; m_per_min units and Stadia maps
- 4y agofastposMulticore fix for pbmcapply; Windows limited to one core
- 4y agofastposR Journal review release: renamed precision parameters, manual corridor limits
- 5y agofastposMore informative test failures; interactive-only progress bars
- 6y agofastposMulticore support via the future package
- 6y agofastposExact-rho population generation and C++ progress bar fixes
- 7y agotrackeRCompressed file reading and correct GPX power extraction
- 7y agotrackeRvertical_noise threshold for elevation gain
- 7y agotrackeRCumulative elevation gain added as a derived metric
- 7y agotrackeRFortify and print bugs fixed in summary objects
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fastpos and trackeR?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. fastpos and trackeR 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 fastpos better than trackeR?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. fastpos and trackeR 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to fastpos?
Top fastpos alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fastpos alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fastpos for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to trackeR?
Top trackeR alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "trackeR alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tracker for the full list with editorial commentary on each.