mice
mice can finally predict, not just estimate, from multiply imputed data.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
goat vs ncmR
A side-by-side editorial comparison of goat and ncmR — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
goat vs ncmR: at a glance
What is goat?
A gene-set enrichment package that outgrew its human-only origins, then went quiet.
GOAT is a CRAN-published R package for gene set enrichment testing, now at 1.1.4. The visible arc runs from a 2024 beta through a first public CRAN release to a 1.1 line that broadened the package past human gene sets and added persistence for completed analyses. Recent releases are small: the newest ships an igraph handle on plot_network() plus bug fixes.
What is ncmR?
Three weeks from first CRAN submission to a point-and-click neutral community model
ncmR fits the neutral community model to microbiome and ecological abundance data. The whole feed is three weeks long: fit_ncm() and summary methods at 0.1.0 on 1 April, a scatter plot with fitted curve and confidence interval at 0.2.0, then a Shiny application wrapping both at 0.3.0, then a row-name bugfix. It is a new package moving fast in its first month.
goat vs ncmR: editorial side-by-side
goat
0.0INFRA · APIS
A gene-set enrichment package that outgrew its human-only origins, then went quiet.
◆ Current state
GOAT is a CRAN-published R package for gene set enrichment testing, now at 1.1.4. The visible arc runs from a 2024 beta through a first public CRAN release to a 1.1 line that broadened the package past human gene sets and added persistence for completed analyses. Recent releases are small: the newest ships an igraph handle on plot_network() plus bug fixes.
◆ Where it's heading
The substantive expansion happened in the 1.1 cycle; everything since has been maintenance and plotting ergonomics. Each release since 1.1 touches one function and returns something callers previously had to reconstruct, which reads as a package settling into a stable API and responding to individual user requests rather than pursuing new scope. The 13-month gap between 1.1.2 and 1.1.4 puts it firmly in low-cadence maintenance.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued point releases that expose internals from the plotting functions or refresh the bundled GO release, not new analysis capability. The entries give no signal of a planned 1.2.
ncmR
0.0INFRA · APIS
Three weeks from first CRAN submission to a point-and-click neutral community model
◆ Current state
ncmR fits the neutral community model to microbiome and ecological abundance data. The whole feed is three weeks long: fit_ncm() and summary methods at 0.1.0 on 1 April, a scatter plot with fitted curve and confidence interval at 0.2.0, then a Shiny application wrapping both at 0.3.0, then a row-name bugfix. It is a new package moving fast in its first month.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is toward users who do not write R. Version 0.2.0 added plotting, 0.3.0 wrapped fitting and plotting in Shiny modules, and the same release deleted the Unicode plotting helpers introduced one version earlier because the dependency they existed for was removed. That willingness to throw away a week-old API suggests the surface is still being negotiated rather than settled.
◆ Prediction
With a fitting module and a plotting module in the app, the remaining gap is getting results back out — export of fitted parameters or figures from the Shiny session. The bugfix at 0.3.1 was in file upload, which is where a GUI's problems usually start.
Alternatives to goat and ncmR
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 goat or ncmR.
PINstimation
A market-microstructure toolkit that keeps adding estimators as the papers land.
nzilbb.vowels
A vowel-analysis package trimming dependencies after an email address got it archived.
emuR
The R half of the EMU speech database system, fixing what was quietly broken.
BAS
A Bayesian model-averaging package spending its 2.0 on memory, not methods.
tidyplots
tidyplots keeps rebuilding its own foundations rather than layering around them.
Recent activity from goat and ncmR
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agoncmRRow names preserved during file upload conversion
- 4mo agoncmRA Shiny app for fitting and plotting neutral community models ⚡
- 4mo agoncmRScatter plot with fitted curve and confidence interval
- 4mo agoncmRFirst CRAN submission: neutral community model fitting in R ⚡
- 6mo agogoatplot_network() now hands back the igraph object
- 1y agogoatFix for a reduce_genesets() infinite loop
- 1y agogoatGene sets beyond human, and analyses you can reload ⚡
- 2y agogoatFirst public release, now on CRAN ⚡
- 2y agogoatplot_lollipop() gains barplots and an effect-size axis
- 2y agogoatBeta 0.9.5 tagged, with no changes described
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between goat and ncmR?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. goat and ncmR 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 goat better than ncmR?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. goat and ncmR 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 goat?
Top goat alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "goat alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/goat for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ncmR?
Top ncmR alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ncmR alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ncmr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.