Over view of R:
R is a programming language and software environment for statistical analysis, graphics representation and reporting. R was created by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and is currently developed by the R Development Core Team.
The core of R is an interpreted computer language which allows branching and looping as well as modular programming using functions. R allows integration with the procedures written in the C, C++, .Net, Python or FORTRAN languages for efficiency.
R is freely available under the GNU General Public License, and pre-compiled binary versions are provided for various operating systems like Linux, Windows and Mac.
R is free software distributed under a GNU-style copy left, and an official part of the GNU project called GNU S.
Evolution of R:
R is an implementation of the S programming language combined with lexical scoping semantics. S was created by John Chambers while at Bell Labs. There are some important differences, but much of the code written for S runs unaltered.
R was created by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and is currently developed by the R Development Core Team, of which Chambers is a member. R is named partly after the first names of the first two R authors and partly as a play on the name of S. The project was conceived in 1992, with an initial version released in 1995 and a stable beta version in 2000
- A large group of individuals has contributed to R by sending code and bug reports.
- Since mid-1997 there has been a core group (the “R Core Team”) who can modify the R source code archive.
Features of R:
R and its libraries implement a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques, including linear and nonlinear modeling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering, and others
The following are the important features of R −
- R is a well-developed, simple and effective programming language which includes conditionals, loops, user defined recursive functions and input and output facilities.
- R has an effective data handling and storage facility,
- R provides a suite of operators for calculations on arrays, lists, vectors and matrices.
- R provides a large, coherent and integrated collection of tools for data analysis.
- R provides graphical facilities for data analysis and display either directly at the computer or printing at the papers.
As a conclusion, R is world’s most widely used statistics programming language. It’s the # 1 choice of data scientists and supported by a vibrant and talented community of contributors. R is taught in universities and deployed in mission critical business applications. This section will teach you R programming along with suitable examples in simple and easy steps.
