Installing R and RStudio – R for Data Science
Data Science is an exciting field that uses scientific approaches, procedures, algorithms, and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data. R is a powerful language that is widely used for statistical analysis and data analysis. Before we start Installing R and RStudio, let’s learn a little about R.
Developed in the 90s, the language has really developed and is used worldwide. There are a number of reasons why I believe that R is one of the best programming languages for Data Science and Machine Learning.
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Reasons for Using R Language for Data Science
- The style of coding is quite easy
- It is open-source
- Availability of instant access to over 7800 packages customized for various computation tasks.
- The online community support is overwhelming. There are numerous forums to help you out.
- A high-performance computing experience.
- It’s one of the highly sought skills by analytics and data science companies.
It doesn’t matter if you have a Mac, Windows, or Linux PC. The steps will be similar.
How to Download and Install R Programming Language
As I told you before, R is an Open Source programming language. This means that it is free and available for download to anyone that needs it. You can get R by using the link below.
Open a browser and go to https://cran.r-project.org/. You will be taken to a web page that is similar to the one in the image below.
Download R
Select your operating system. Follow the prompts and download the latest version of R for your operating system. Download and run the file to install R. It’s just a standard installation. Leave everything with the default settings.
How to Download and Install RStudio
Download RStudio
In addition to the R programming language, we are going to need an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to work with R. My personal preference is R Studio. Used by millions of people weekly, the RStudio IDE is a set of tools built to help you be more productive with R and Python. It includes a console, syntax-highlighting editor that supports direct code execution. In addition, it contains tools for plotting, viewing history, debugging and managing your workspace.
There’s a both a Free version and a Pro version that you pay for. The free version is more than sufficient for personal use. The Pro version is mostly used by companies, schools and big enterprises. To download RStudio, use the link below.
Go to https://www.rstudio.com/ and select the “RStudio Desktop Free” option. RStudio will be downloaded to your computer. Now, all you have to do is install it.
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