What is ‘R’?

1 The R computing language

  1. R is a computer programming language. The R language is leading in statistical analyses and is considered a field standard for data science.

  2. Powerful for creating figures and data exploration. I’d recommend browsing these wesites for data visualization in R: R Graph Gallery top 50 ggplot ext

  3. R is a language and users have contributed R “packages” or “libraries”. These are collections of specific commands and protocols. Examples: Seabird, single-cell RNA-seq.

  4. Highly transferable skill.

2 Common themes moving forward

  1. Documentation: have current you write notes from past you to future you

  2. Google it: no matter how you learned R or how advanced you are, you will ultimately be looking things up online. A part of this course will include ‘how to learn R’.

  3. Patience: Amount of time spent may seem not useful.

Artwork by More from Allison Horst

3 Integrating across languages

A major pro to using RStudio, is how the new Posit system integrates with other computer languages (python, julia, etc.). This is ideal for projects where collaborators use a variety of R and python. Additionally, the GUI of RStudio is helpful for new learners and a great way to keep files and analyses on your computer organized.

I’ve actually created this entire website using RStudio (and Quarto within RStudio). As an example, I also use this feature to create websites for showing preliminary data and publishing alongside articles.