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Revision as of 14:18, 11 February 2012
R tutorial
This is a tutorial introduction to R for users with no previous background in the platform or the language.
Contents
The environment
In this section we discuss how to download and install the software, how to configure an R session and what work with the R environment includes.
Installation
- Navigate to http://probability.ca/cran/ [1] and follow the link to your computer's operating system.
- Download a precompiled binary (or "build") of the R "framework" to your computer and follow the instructions for installing it. You don't need tools, or GUI versions for now, but do make sure that the program is the correct one for your version of your operating system.
- Launch R.
The program should open with the "R console", and greet you with its prompt, awaiting your input:
>
User interface
R comes with a GUI[2] to lay out common tasks. For example, there are a number of menu items, many of which are similar to other programs you will have worked with ("File", "Edit", "Format", "Window", "Help" ...). All of these tasks can also be accessed through the command line. In general, GUIs are useful when you are not sure what you want to do or how to go about it; the command line is much more powerful when you have more experience and know your way around in principle. R gives you both options.
Let's begin with a glossary of some terms that R uses and how they relate to your work:
- Help
- Help is available for all commands and for the R command line syntax. As well, help is available to find the names of commands when you are not sure of them.
a <- 5- Working directory
- Workspace
wd, help, menu items, workspace, loading and running scripts
Packages
Standard packages included, data available
Documents
... Loading and running scripts
Simple commands
Including functions
Scalar datatypes
Definition, change, operations with, functions to work on...
Vectors
Matrices, tables, frames
Subsetting,mselecting and filtering
Data manipulations
Transformation Search
Writing functions
Installing new functions
Numeric output
Graphic output
Notes
- ↑ This is the CRAN mirror site at the University of Toronto, any other mirror site will do. You may access a choice of mirror sites from the R-project homepage.
- ↑ Graphical User Interface
Further reading and resources
