R (and Dialects) versus Python for Data Science
Norman Matloff · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Statistics · 2026
ABSTRACT R and Python are the two dominant language tools for data science today. Which one is better, and in what senses? This paper explores such questions, in terms of aspects such as learning curve, clarity of expression, coding philosophy, high‐performance computing capability and so on. Also, the article treats base‐ R and the tidyverse as two separate ‘dialects’ of R , so that the above comparisons are in many cases tripartite in nature.