Getting Started with R

  • R Background: We provide a background of who is using R and why
  • First Use of R: If you have no background with R, this page will provide some details on file types and the workflow of using R and R-Studio. Note the description of .R scripts. I would recommend that most of your work starts with a .R script, and then you build an .Rmd file from code in your script.
  • R-Studio First Use: After you have installed R and R-Studio then this page will help you with building your first .Rmd file. We will use this type of file heavily throughout the semester.
  • R Visualization: Some random links about R packages for visualization.
  • R Cheat Sheets: This page has links to one-page guides to different R packages and data science tools.
  • Google’s R Style Guide: A guide from Google on how to type clean code that allows your code to communicate with others. Think Elements of Style.
  • A very short introduction to R
  • R Markdown Cheat Sheet (PDF), a quick guide to the most commonly used markdown syntax, knitr options, and output formats.
  • R Markdown Reference Guide (PDF), a more comprehensive reference guide to markdown, knitr, and output format options.
  • Who’s using R

Infographic resources

Learning more

For even more in-depth documentation see:

  • Advanced R book for R users who want to improve their programming skills and understanding of the language. It should also be useful for programmers coming to R from other languages, as it explains some of R’s quirks and shows how some parts that seem horrible do have a positive side.
  • The website for the knitr package. Knitr is an extremely powerful tool for dynamic content generation and the website has a wealth of documentation and examples to help you utilize it to its full potential.
  • A detailed overview about writing your own R Packages by Hadley Wickham.