Submission: RMLViz (R)

[flizhou]

name: RMLViz Submitting Author: Fanli Zhou (@flizhou), Anas Muhammad (@anasm-17 ), Tao Huang (@taohuang-ubc), Mike Chen (@miketianchen) Repository: https://github.com/UBC-MDS/RMLViz Version submitted: 1.1.0 Editor: Varada Kolhatkar (@kvarada )
Reviewer 1: Polina Romanchenko (@PolinaRomanchenko) Reviewer 2: Yuan-Lon Lu (@franklu2014)
Archive: TBD
Version accepted: TBD

---

Package: RMLViz
Title: Machine learning results visualization helper in R
Version: 0.0.0.9000
Authors@R: 
    c(person(given = "Fanli",
             family = "Zhou",
             role = c("aut", "cre"),
             email = "flizhou@gmail.com"),
      person(given = "Anas",
             family = "Muhammad",
             role = c("aut"),
             email = "anas.m.017@gmail.com."),
      person(given = "Mike",
             family = "Chen",
             role = c("aut"),
             email = "mike_t_chen@hotmail.com"),
      person(given = "Tao",
             family = "Huang",
             role = c("aut"),
             email = "tonyhuang0526ubc@gmail.com"))
Description: The package contains four functions that help visualize machine learning results
             in R. 
License: MIT + file LICENSE
Encoding: UTF-8
LazyData: true
RoxygenNote: 7.0.2
Suggests: 
    testthat (>= 2.1.0),
    covr,
    knitr,
    rmarkdown
Imports: 
    vctrs,
    lifecycle,
    pillar,
    dplyr,
    tidyr,
    magrittr,
    ggplot2,
    broom,
    pls,
    gbm,
    datasets,
    tibble,
    purrr,
    pROC,
    plotROC,
    class,
    e1071,
    mlbench,
    caret,
    caTools,
    rpart,
    randomForest
URL: https://github.com/UBC-MDS/RMLViz
BugReports: https://github.com/UBC-MDS/RMLViz/issues
VignetteBuilder: knitr

Scope

• Please indicate which category or categories from our package fit policies this package falls under: (Please check an appropriate box below. If you are unsure, we suggest you make a pre-submission inquiry.):

  • [ ] data retrieval
  • [ ] data extraction
  • [ ] data munging
  • [ ] data deposition
  • [ ] workflow automataion
  • [ ] version control
  • [ ] citation management and bibliometrics
  • [x] scientific software wrappers
  • [ ] database software bindings
  • [ ] geospatial data
  • [ ] text analysis

• Explain how and why the package falls under these categories (briefly, 1-2 sentences):

  This package contains four functions to allow users to conveniently plot various visualizations as well as compare performance of different classifier models.

• Who is the target audience and what are scientific applications of this package?

  This package targets to reduce time spent on developing visualizations and comparing models, to speed up the model creation process for data scientists, or in general, anyone who uses machine learning.

• Are there other R packages that accomplish the same thing? If so, how does yours differ or meet our criteria for best-in-category?

  There is no other R packages that accomplish the same thing at this time.

• If you made a pre-submission enquiry, please paste the link to the corresponding issue, forum post, or other discussion, or @tag the editor you contacted.

Technical checks

Confirm each of the following by checking the box.

• [x] I have read the guide for authors and rOpenSci packaging guide.

This package:

• [x] does not violate the Terms of Service of any service it interacts with.
• [x] has a CRAN and OSI accepted license.
• [x] contains a README with instructions for installing the development version.
• [x] includes documentation with examples for all functions, created with roxygen2.
• [x] contains a vignette with examples of its essential functions and uses.
• [x] has a test suite.
• [x] has continuous integration, including reporting of test coverage using services such as Travis CI, Coveralls and/or CodeCov.

Publication options

• [ ] Do you intend for this package to go on CRAN?
• [ ] Do you intend for this package to go on Bioconductor?
• [ ] Do you wish to automatically submit to the Journal of Open Source Software? If so:

JOSS Options

- [ ] The package has an **obvious research application** according to [JOSS's definition](https://joss.readthedocs.io/en/latest/submitting.html#submission-requirements). - [ ] The package contains a `paper.md` matching [JOSS's requirements](https://joss.readthedocs.io/en/latest/submitting.html#what-should-my-paper-contain) with a high-level description in the package root or in `inst/`. - [ ] The package is deposited in a long-term repository with the DOI: - (*Do not submit your package separately to JOSS*)

• [ ] Do you wish to submit an Applications Article about your package to Methods in Ecology and Evolution? If so:

MEE Options

- [ ] The package is novel and will be of interest to the broad readership of the journal. - [ ] The manuscript describing the package is no longer than 3000 words. - [ ] You intend to archive the code for the package in a long-term repository which meets the requirements of the journal (see [MEE's Policy on Publishing Code](http://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)2041-210X/journal-resources/policy-on-publishing-code.html)) - (*Scope: Do consider MEE's [Aims and Scope](http://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)2041-210X/aims-and-scope/read-full-aims-and-scope.html) for your manuscript. We make no guarantee that your manuscript will be within MEE scope.*) - (*Although not required, we strongly recommend having a full manuscript prepared when you submit here.*) - (*Please do not submit your package separately to Methods in Ecology and Evolution*)

Code of conduct

• [x] I agree to abide by rOpenSci's Code of Conduct during the review process and in maintaining my package should it be accepted.

[PolinaRomanchenko]

Package Review

Please check off boxes as applicable, and elaborate in comments below. Your review is not limited to these topics, as described in the reviewer guide

• [x] As the reviewer I confirm that there are no conflicts of interest for me to review this work (If you are unsure whether you are in conflict, please speak to your editor before starting your review).

Documentation

The package includes all the following forms of documentation:

• [x] A statement of need clearly stating problems the software is designed to solve and its target audience in README
• [x] Installation instructions: for the development version of package and any non-standard dependencies in README
• [x] Vignette(s) demonstrating major functionality that runs successfully locally
• [x] Function Documentation: for all exported functions in R help
• [x] Examples for all exported functions in R Help that run successfully locally
• [x] Community guidelines including contribution guidelines in the README or CONTRIBUTING, and DESCRIPTION with URL, BugReports and Maintainer (which may be autogenerated via Authors@R).

For packages co-submitting to JOSS

• [ ] The package has an obvious research application according to JOSS's definition

The package contains a paper.md matching JOSS's requirements with:

• [ ] A short summary describing the high-level functionality of the software
• [ ] Authors: A list of authors with their affiliations
• [ ] A statement of need clearly stating problems the software is designed to solve and its target audience.
• [ ] References: with DOIs for all those that have one (e.g. papers, datasets, software).

Functionality

• [x] Installation: Installation succeeds as documented.
• [x] Functionality: Any functional claims of the software been confirmed.
• [x] Performance: Any performance claims of the software been confirmed.
• [x] Automated tests: Unit tests cover essential functions of the package and a reasonable range of inputs and conditions. All tests pass on the local machine.
• [x] Packaging guidelines: The package conforms to the rOpenSci packaging guidelines

Final approval (post-review)

• [ ] The author has responded to my review and made changes to my satisfaction. I recommend approving this package.

Estimated hours spent reviewing:

• [x] Should the author(s) deem it appropriate, I agree to be acknowledged as a package reviewer ("rev" role) in the package DESCRIPTION file.

---

Review Comments

Hey, guys! You've tackled a complicated topic in this 3 weeks, great job! I found your repository structure quite easy to understand and README is nicely done. Usage examples provide enough information to be able to use package with ease, and even from just looking at them I can understand what you're trying to achieve with this package. Great job with test functions and erroneous input handling!

Just as disclaimer: One nuance about dependencies you have in the package. I did run into issues with 'rlang', 'vctrs' and some other packages, that you use in your project. I believe it to be just a Windows OS issue, but heads up, because it makes life quite complicated for potential users of your package.

Some possible room for improvements:

• in the Readme where you describe dependencies it'd be nice to also put versions of packages you use, as well as links to packages. Just to further boost the convenience if one would run into issues with the package.
• if you want to go an extra step, you can put a disclaimer about issues with Windows operated systems, since your package is quite heavy with dependencies.
• you can wrap link to a github page at the top in a sentence saying where it leads or something. Because you can easily miss it and have troubles when one will try to find vignettes.
• function confusion_matrix can use some code cleaning inside in terms of styling and commenting.

Overall, great project! You've done a great job withing this 3 weeks we had! Feel free to reach out if you need more information or feedback!

[franklu2014]

Package Review

Please check off boxes as applicable, and elaborate in comments below. Your review is not limited to these topics, as described in the reviewer guide

• [x] As the reviewer I confirm that there are no conflicts of interest for me to review this work (If you are unsure whether you are in conflict, please speak to your editor before starting your review).

Documentation

The package includes all the following forms of documentation:

• [x] A statement of need clearly stating problems the software is designed to solve and its target audience in README
• [x] Installation instructions: for the development version of package and any non-standard dependencies in README
• [x] Vignette(s) demonstrating major functionality that runs successfully locally
• [x] Function Documentation: for all exported functions in R help
• [x] Examples for all exported functions in R Help that run successfully locally
• [x] Community guidelines including contribution guidelines in the README or CONTRIBUTING, and DESCRIPTION with URL, BugReports and Maintainer (which may be autogenerated via Authors@R).

For packages co-submitting to JOSS

• [ ] The package has an obvious research application according to JOSS's definition

The package contains a paper.md matching JOSS's requirements with:

• [ ] A short summary describing the high-level functionality of the software
• [ ] Authors: A list of authors with their affiliations
• [ ] A statement of need clearly stating problems the software is designed to solve and its target audience.
• [ ] References: with DOIs for all those that have one (e.g. papers, datasets, software).

Functionality

• [x] Installation: Installation succeeds as documented.
• [x] Functionality: Any functional claims of the software been confirmed.
• [x] Performance: Any performance claims of the software been confirmed.
• [x] Automated tests: Unit tests cover essential functions of the package and a reasonable range of inputs and conditions. All tests pass on the local machine.
• [x] Packaging guidelines: The package conforms to the rOpenSci packaging guidelines

Final approval (post-review)

• [ ] The author has responded to my review and made changes to my satisfaction. I recommend approving this package.

Estimated hours spent reviewing:

• [ ] Should the author(s) deem it appropriate, I agree to be acknowledged as a package reviewer ("rev" role) in the package DESCRIPTION file.

---

Review Comments

Hey, dear development team. It's hard to believe you complete such a huge task in 3 weeks, but you did it! I followed your installation guide on README and have this package installed on my laptop without any problem. Your function descriptions are also well-written, and I can easily see the objective of each function.

The examples are also easy to follow. Just by reading the examples, an user can roughly picture under which circumstances the functions in this package might be helpful in speeding up his or her data analysis.

This is very impressive, especially given the fact that we have other intensive labs and lectures. I just have some minor suggestions after playing with the functions for a while and reading into the source code:

• README of the repo, the landing page, and the vignette are duplicate of each other. It is good to show all available information to the users, but when all pages are identical, they become redundant.

• model_comparison_table lists "List of model, X_train, y_train, X_test, y_test, scoring option" as its input. This is misleading when I tried to test scoring option and couldn't find any information about it. After reading into the source code eventually, I found it takes train_set_cf and test_set_cf as the first two arguments. As to the dots arguments, I only found a script for parsing the model names, but there is no code for selecting scoring options.

• confusion_matrix also has a similar issue: Model, X_train, X_test are listed in the Input column but are not input arguments in the source code. The source code also contains a labels argument, but this argument is never used.

• plot_roc also has a misleading Input column: model and X_valid are not actual input arguments in the source code. In the R script, an input argument called predict_proba is required instead.

From the observation above, my recommendation will be: if the code is adopted from somewhere else, it might be better to include a link to the source. Of course, please feel free to let me know if I misunderstood your source code or the Input column.

Overall, this package has a very interesting idea of speeding up the process of data visualization and does what it's supposed to do. You should all be proud of yourselves! Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss more.

[flizhou]

Thank you for your comments! Your reviews are very helpful.

Based on your comments, we have made the following changes:

• Updated dependencies in README: PolinaRomanchenko's first point.
• Added one sentence explaining the github link: PolinaRomanchenko's third point.
• Fixed our function inputs in our README: franklu2014's second, third and last point.

Here is the link to our new release:

https://github.com/UBC-MDS/RMLViz/tree/v1.2.0