Software

Programming Languages

The R Programming Language

cran.r-project.org

R is a programming language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. R provides a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques, such as linear and nonlinear modelling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering, and much more. One of R’s strengths is the ease with which well-designed publication-quality plots can be produced – including mathematical symbols and formulae.

R is available as free software under the terms of the GNU General Public License and runs on all major operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux). With over 20,000 packages on CRAN, R is virtually limitlessly extensible.

R at a Glance

Video: R The most powerful and most widely used statistical software

Installation

R can be downloaded for free from the CRAN website. Choose the version for your operating system:

Click the download link, confirm the save location, and double-click the downloaded file to start the installation wizard.

Video: Installation demonstration

The Graphical User Interface (GUI)

R’s graphical user interface is very simple. There are three main areas: the menu bar, the toolbar for quick access to functions, and the console where commands are entered.

Screenshot of the R GUI with labelled areas for menu bar, toolbar, console, and command line

The R graphical user interface with its four key elements.

The GUI consists of the following elements:

  • Element 1: Menu bar – The menu bar provides access to all R functions, such as opening and saving scripts, package management, accessing the help system, and other settings.
  • Element 2: Toolbar – The toolbar below the menu bar provides quick access to frequently used functions, such as opening a new script, copy and paste, or interrupting a running computation.
  • Element 3: Console – The console is the central working area of R. Results, messages, and error messages are displayed here. All output from R appears in this window.
  • Element 4: Command line (input prompt >) – The > prompt on the left side of the console indicates that R is ready to accept a new command. You type your R commands here and confirm with the Enter key.
Video: User interface demonstration
TipRecommendation

In practice, most R users do not work directly with the R GUI but use a more comfortable development environment like RStudio or Positron. These provide an integrated editor, file management, help system, and much more.

Why R?

  • Open Source – free and freely available
  • Extensive package ecosystem – over 20,000 packages on CRAN
  • Tidyverse – modern, consistent framework for data analysis
  • Reproducible research – with R Markdown and Quarto
  • Strong community – active user community worldwide
  • Publication-ready graphics – full control over appearance

Key Packages for Our Courses

Package Description
tidyverse Collection of packages for data manipulation and visualization
ggplot2 Data visualization based on the Grammar of Graphics
dplyr Data manipulation and transformation
tidyr Reshaping data into tidy format
readr Fast data import
rmarkdown Dynamic document creation
quarto Scientific publications

Further Resources