Introduction to R and RStudio
Fred Nwanganga, Mike Chapple · 2020
Machine learning sits at the intersection of the worlds of statistics and software development. This chapter provides the computer science tools needed to implement statistical techniques that are used to unlock the value hidden within data. It introduces the fundamental concepts of the R programming language. The chapter explores how the RStudio integrated development environment (IDE) facilitates coding in R. As an integrated development environment, RStudio offers a well-designed graphical interface to assist with the creation of R code. RStudio desktop is the most commonly used version of RStudio, especially for individual programmers. RStudio also offers a server version of the RStudio IDE. The chapter presents an example of an R script rendered inside the script pane in RStudio. Packages are the secret sauce of the R community. They consist of collections of code created by the community and shared widely for public use.