Introduction to R

R is a powerful, comprehensive, open-source software framework designed for doing a variety of modern computational tasks, including those needed in statistics and data science. It is possible to download and install the software on your own computer, or to use it through a website-interface without downloading anything.

In this lab we will learn how to access and run R through website-interfaces. Here are 3 different options that offer free access, and a good combination of features and convenience:

  1. The Sagemath/CoCalc server
  2. The RStudio Cloud server
  3. The Earlham CS server
All 3 of the above require login credentials to access. A fourth option that works without login is the Sage cell server. It looks like the box below, and offers a very convenient way to do short computations and graphics without logging in

To get started, work through the guided explorations described in the following worksheet (they are all the same worksheet in different formats):

            Introduction to R   (.pdf)

            Introduction to R   (.sagews)

            Introduction to R   (.ipynb)