First of all, the question is 'Why Use R'. One source answers that question thus:
R is the leading tool for statistics, data analysis, and machine learning. It is more than a statistical package; it's a programming language, so you can create your own objects, functions, and packages.
Speaking of packages, there are over 2,000 cutting-edge, user-contributed packages available on CRAN (not to mention Bioconductor and Omegahat). Many packages are submitted by prominent members of their respective fields.
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For Beginners in R, here is a 15 page example based tutorial that covers the basics of R.
These tutorials are designed for beginners in R, but they can also be used by experienced programmers as a refresher course or as reference. Running loops in R can be slow and therefore the apply group of functions as well as the reshape package can drastically improve the performance of the code.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @12:48AM
Um, what is "R"?
[bit early for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, isn't it?]
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Sunday August 28 2016, @01:29AM
quoted from Wikipedia: [wikipedia.org]
R is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics supported by the R Foundation for Statistical Computing. The R language is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statistical software and data analysis. Polls, surveys of data miners, and studies of scholarly literature databases show that R's popularity has increased substantially in recent years.
R is a GNU package.The source code for the R software environment is written primarily in C, Fortran, and R. R is freely available under the GNU General Public License, and pre-compiled binary versions are provided for various operating systems. While R has a command line interface, there are several graphical front-ends available.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @05:24AM
"R" a bit like SAS (Statistical Analytical System) which is mega-$$$$$$, but some company execs can't understand 'free' and continue to poke over millions in licensing fees annually for SAS. Consultants look like IBM-ers from the 60's if that gives a clue.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Sunday August 28 2016, @07:20AM
It's like C, but +15.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday August 28 2016, @01:37PM
I thought I had cleared that up in TFS....