Appendix 02: Getting access to R

23.10 Getting Started With R and RStudio

  • R is a piece of software that does calculations and makes graphs.
  • RStudio is a GUI (graphical user interface) that acts as a front-end to R
  • Your can use R directly, but most people use a GUI of some kind
  • RStudio has become the most popular GUI

The following instructions will lead you click by click through downloading R and RStudio and starting an initial session. If you have trouble with downloading either program go to YouTube and search for something like “Downloading R” or “Installing RStudio” and you should be able to find something helpful, such as “How to Download R for Windows”.

23.10.1 RStudio Cloud

TODO: Add RStudio cloud

23.10.2 Getting R onto your own computer

To get R on to your computer first go to the CRAN website at https://cran.r-project.org/ (CRAN stands for “comprehensive R Archive Network”). At the top of the screen are three bullet points; select the appropriate one (or click the link below)

Each page is formatted slightly differently. For a current Mac, click on the top link, which as of 8/16/2018 was “R-3.5.1.pkg” or click this link. If you have an older Mac you might have to scroll down to find your operating system under “Binaries for legacy OS X systems.”

For PC select “base” or click this link.

When its downloaded, run the installer and accept the defaults.

23.10.3 Getting RStudio onto your computer

RStudio is an R interface developed by a company of the same name. RStudio has a number of commercial products, but much of their portfolio is freeware. You can download RStudio from their website www.rstudio.com/ . The download page (www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/) is a bit busy because it shows all of their commercial products; the free version is on the far left side of the table of products. Click on the big green DOWNLOAD button under the column on the left that says “RStudio Desktop Open Source License” (or click on this link ).

This will scroll you down to a list of downloads titled “Installers for Supported Platforms.” Windows users can select the top option RStudio 1.1.456 - Windows Vista/7/8/10 and Mac the second option RStudio 1.1.456 - Mac OS X 10.6+ (64-bit). (Versions names are current of 8/16/2018).

Run the installer after it downloads and accept the default. RStudio will automatically link up with the most current version of R you have on your computer. Find the RStudio icon on your desktop or search for “RStudio” from your task bar and you’ll be read to go.

23.10.4 Keep R and RStudio current

Both R and RStudio undergo regular updates and you will occasionally have to re-download and install one or both of them. In practice I probably do this about every 6 months.