vcfR
A genomics workhorse whose visible release feed stops dead in mid-2020.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
statsExpressions vs trackeR
A side-by-side editorial comparison of statsExpressions and trackeR — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:maintenance
statsExpressions vs trackeR: at a glance
What is statsExpressions?
A statistics backend whose release history is mostly other people's weather
statsExpressions produces the tidy dataframes and plotmath expressions that ggstatsplot prints onto plots, and that position defines its changelog. Six of its ten most recent versions exist to absorb API changes in easystats, dplyr or purrr. Version 2.0.0 is the exception, cut to accompany ggstatsplot's own 1.0.0 and carrying pairwise Fisher's exact post hocs for contingency tables.
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.
statsExpressions vs trackeR: editorial side-by-side
statsExpressions
0.0INFRA · APIS
A statistics backend whose release history is mostly other people's weather
◆ Current state
statsExpressions produces the tidy dataframes and plotmath expressions that ggstatsplot prints onto plots, and that position defines its changelog. Six of its ten most recent versions exist to absorb API changes in easystats, dplyr or purrr. Version 2.0.0 is the exception, cut to accompany ggstatsplot's own 1.0.0 and carrying pairwise Fisher's exact post hocs for contingency tables.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a component settling into place beneath a larger package rather than a product with its own roadmap. New statistical content arrives rarely and narrowly — an exact-p toggle, one post-hoc function — while the recurring work is keeping expressions correct as the easystats stack shifts underneath. The one bug class it keeps returning to is rendering: p-values of exactly zero, decimal commas that plotmath parses as list separators.
◆ Prediction
Coupled this tightly, the next release is most likely another compatibility pass timed to an easystats or ggstatsplot version rather than new tests. Nothing in these entries signals an independent feature direction.
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 statsExpressions 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 statsExpressions 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 statsExpressions alternatives → · See all trackeR alternatives →
Recent activity from statsExpressions and trackeR
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3mo agostatsExpressionsPairwise Fisher's post hocs for contingency tables
- 4mo agostatsExpressionsInternal maintenance only, no user-facing changes
- 6mo agostatsExpressionsAdapts to dplyr 1.2.0 and purrr 1.2.1
- 6mo agostatsExpressionsAdapts to changes in the easystats packages
- 11mo agotrackeRplot_route() fixed; plot layout moved to patchwork
- 1y agostatsExpressionsFixes p-value rendering when p is exactly zero
- 1y agostatsExpressionscentrality_description() follows the new easystats API
- 2y agotrackeRTCX cadence bug fixed; m_per_min units and Stadia maps
- 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 statsExpressions and trackeR?
Both compete on the same themes — maintenance — within Infra & APIs. statsExpressions 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 statsExpressions better than trackeR?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. statsExpressions 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 statsExpressions?
Top statsExpressions alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "statsExpressions alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/statsexpressions 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.