ggpointless
ggpointless keeps adding the ggplot2 layers nobody else bothered to write.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
Nematode vs prova
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Nematode and prova — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-packages
Nematode vs prova: at a glance
What is Nematode?
A nematode ecology toolbox whose last two releases corrected the arithmetic in its own indices.
Nematode packages the standard soil-nematode community indices — maturity, enrichment, structure and channel indices, trophic diversity, plant parasite index — alongside ordination helpers and a bundled taxonomy and traits dataset drawn from Nemaplex. The visible history is short: a large function drop in 0.2.0, then a run of releases correcting formulas and refreshing the reference data.
What is prova?
prova adds expected-utility calculation on top of its Bayesian inference core.
prova does Bayesian nonparametric inference in R — probabilities through Pr() and qPr(), mutual information, quantile plots. Five releases in about two weeks renamed its central argument, collapsed two plotting functions into one, and then in v2.3.0 introduced exputility() for expected utilities and their revisability, with plot() and print() methods attached from the start.
Nematode vs prova: editorial side-by-side
Nematode
0.0INFRA · APIS
A nematode ecology toolbox whose last two releases corrected the arithmetic in its own indices.
◆ Current state
Nematode packages the standard soil-nematode community indices — maturity, enrichment, structure and channel indices, trophic diversity, plant parasite index — alongside ordination helpers and a bundled taxonomy and traits dataset drawn from Nemaplex. The visible history is short: a large function drop in 0.2.0, then a run of releases correcting formulas and refreshing the reference data.
◆ Where it's heading
Two of the four documented releases fix a formula in an index the package already shipped — the Species Richness Index in 0.2.1 and a missing division by two in the Functional Metabolic Footprints calculation in 0.3.1 — and the 0.2.1 note tells users their earlier values were wrong. That, more than the feature additions, is what the feed records. The other thread is keeping the bundled taxonomy current against Nemaplex, which grew the genus table from 2,484 to 2,524 entries and the body-mass table from 987 to 1,094 in March.
◆ Prediction
Given the pattern of index formulas being corrected after release, further verification of the remaining indices against their source publications is the likeliest next work. The Nemaplex datasets carry a revision date and are refreshed on the upstream schedule, so another data update is the other predictable item.
prova
6.3INFRA · APIS
prova adds expected-utility calculation on top of its Bayesian inference core.
◆ Current state
prova does Bayesian nonparametric inference in R — probabilities through Pr() and qPr(), mutual information, quantile plots. Five releases in about two weeks renamed its central argument, collapsed two plotting functions into one, and then in v2.3.0 introduced exputility() for expected utilities and their revisability, with plot() and print() methods attached from the start.
◆ Where it's heading
Two arcs run in parallel. One compresses the API: learnt= became K=, flexiplot() and plotquantiles() merged into pplot(), and omitting arguments such as Y=, X= and K= got simpler. The other extends reach — mutualinfoF() for finite-domain variates, quantile accuracy reported alongside mutual information, and now a decision-theoretic layer sitting on the inference the package already did.
◆ Prediction
exputility() shipping with print() and plot() methods matches how the probability and mutual-information classes were treated, so utilities are likely to get the same class-based handling as they mature. The notes do not say whether decision analysis extends beyond expected utility.
Alternatives to Nematode and prova
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 Nematode or prova.
mpactr
mpactr spent two spring releases normalizing case in metadata after users kept tripping on it.
surveytidy
surveytidy taught every dplyr verb to operate on a whole collection of surveys at once.
surveycore
surveycore declared its API stable with every survey design type covered.
PEIMAN2
PEIMAN2 cut its annotation database loose from its release cycle without breaking CRAN.
prospectr
prospectr spent its biggest release in years fixing spectra it had been quietly mangling.
See all Nematode alternatives → · See all prova alternatives →
Recent activity from Nematode and prova
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 13d agoprovaexputility() brings decision analysis into prova ⚡
- 20d agoprovaCumulative 2.x notes, plus hist() and mutual-information changes
- 23d agoprovalearnt= becomes K=; pplot() replaces two plot functions
- 27d agoprovaFix for pre-existing parallel clusters
- 28d agoprovaextraDistr dropped; mutual-information objects get a class
- 1mo agoNematodeMissing division by two fixed in Functional Metabolic Footprints
- 4mo agoNematodecp_rel_abundance() added
- 4mo agoNematodeNemaplex taxonomy and body-mass datasets refreshed
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Nematode and prova?
Both compete on the same themes — r-packages — within Infra & APIs. prova 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 Nematode better than prova?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. prova 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Nematode?
Top Nematode alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Nematode alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/nematode for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to prova?
Top prova alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "prova alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/prova for the full list with editorial commentary on each.