Getting Started With R Programming

What Is R Programming?

R is a programming language and software environment for statistical analysis, graphics representation, and reporting.

R is the 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.

Getting Started With R Programming – Environment Setup and Installation

First of all, you need to create and setup the environment for the development of R programming.

For this to be done, go to the website https://cran.r-project.org/.

Here, you can select and download the version of R based on your operating system.

Getting Started With R Programming

After clicking on any of the links, you will get the option to download the base for R.

Once you have  finished downloading, install the package.

Installing the package gives you a console for development. But it is not enough as it is a console, it does not have any UI and it can hinder you from learning R Programming.

R Console

Getting Started With R Programming 
 
It’s not very convenient, and not very nice to work in the console.

Hence, we will install an IDE for it.

R Studio is the best option that we have for development in R programming. We can get the IDE from https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/ this link.

Once you have finished downloading the R Studio, Install the software.

The R Studio looks like this,

Getting Started With R Programming
 
One more important thing is to set up how your R Studio IDE looks. For some people, the IDE needs to be dark, for some, it needs to be the default.

To make changes in your R Studio IDE, follow the steps given below,
  1. Go to Tools.
  2. You will see the menu named "Global options..."
  3. Click on it.
  4. A new window will appear. It contains all the customization options that you might not need all the way except some options.
  5. Click on Appearance. Here you can change the look and feel (Theme, Font size, Editor theme etc.)
  6. Select the options as per your need and comfort.
  7. I have selected the R Studio theme as Modern. My font is Lucida Console with size 10 font and Editor theme in  Tomorrow Night Blue.
  8. Below is the sample screen.
Getting Started With R Programming
 
Now, we are all set with our IDE and finally we can start creating the first R program.

Stay tuned for my next article on how to create and execute your first R program with R Studio.

Thank you for reading :)

Keep coding.