What is R?
R is a software environment for statistical computing and graphics. Using R you can create and manipulate data sets and run a wide variety of statistical tests to develop a greater understanding of the data you have at hand.
What is R Studio?
R Studio is an open-source integrated development environment for R. It makes R far more user friendly by providing various different windows, tabs and buttons making everything more easily accessible.
R is a software environment for statistical computing and graphics. Using R you can create and manipulate data sets and run a wide variety of statistical tests to develop a greater understanding of the data you have at hand.
What is R Studio?
R Studio is an open-source integrated development environment for R. It makes R far more user friendly by providing various different windows, tabs and buttons making everything more easily accessible.
Why use R/R Studio over other programs?
Although compared to programs such as Excel, SPSS and Minitab R may seem confusing due to its dependence on code, there are various reasons to use R over these programs.
Most modern day computers should run R and R Studio just fine but as mentioned previously some things you can do using R can be harder on your computer than others. R relies heavily on ram particularly for working with larger data sets therefore if you plan to be working with big data you may need a computer with at least 16GB of ram. However for everything that will be covered on this site the data sets will be relatively small so 8GB will suffice.
Although compared to programs such as Excel, SPSS and Minitab R may seem confusing due to its dependence on code, there are various reasons to use R over these programs.
- It’s completely free unlike programs such as SPSS and Minitab.
- Its open source meaning anyone can create packages for it making it extremely versatile. Although the fact there is multiple ways to do almost everything in R can seem daunting at first with time it allows users to work in whatever way fits their preference.
- It works on a huge number of different operating systems meaning no matter if you have a Mac or a Windows PC you should be able to run R. However some things you can do using R may be more intensive than others.
- It’s being used by more and more organisations. As more businesses move away from using SPSS the ability to work with R is becoming a greatly valued skill.
- Even though the language of code used in R is only directly useful when working with R being familiar with code based systems is another useful and transferable skill.
Most modern day computers should run R and R Studio just fine but as mentioned previously some things you can do using R can be harder on your computer than others. R relies heavily on ram particularly for working with larger data sets therefore if you plan to be working with big data you may need a computer with at least 16GB of ram. However for everything that will be covered on this site the data sets will be relatively small so 8GB will suffice.