the “r” statistical package
DESCRIPTION
The “R” Statistical Package. Naomi Altman Dept. of Statistics PSU. What is R?. R is a “freeware” version of the S or Splus package. R is available on Windows, Mac, Unix and Linux. R follows the “toolbox” philosophy – provide the tools and components and let the users build the machines. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The “R” Statistical Package
Naomi AltmanDept. of Statistics
PSU
What is R?
R is a “freeware” version of the S or Splus package.
R is available on Windows, Mac, Unix and Linux.R follows the “toolbox” philosophy – provide the
tools and components and let the users build the machines.
Currently, R has lots of built-in “machines” (i.e. statistical methods) and many developers contributing free software – in particular, genomics, proteomics and spatial software.
R vs SAS, Minitab and othersStrengths of R• Good algorithms• User community with listserv• Very extensible – open source• Excellent graphics• Lots of contributed special purpose software (e.g.
bioinformatics, spatial statistics …)Weaknesses of R• “Hacker-friendly”• Documentation is scattered• User-contributed software can be idiosyncratic• Very slow • Poor memory management
Downloading R (www.r-project.org)
Installing R
Click on the appropriate platform.
On Windows:
Download the .exe file. (Note that for some packages you may want an older version.)
Run the .exe file from the start menu.
Summary
R is easy to:
• obtain
• install
• extend
The learning curve is long.
R is slow compared to platforms like Perl, C++, etc.