R Beginner Workshop

The workshop has three main parts: R-Studio, Data Management, and Basic Graphics.

[1] We will walk through how to use R-Studio for inputting scripts (multiple lines of code), entering code, installing packages and libraries, running a script, looking at data, visualizing output.

[2] For "Data Management" we will be inputting data, manipulating ata using Vectors, DataFrames . We will covering some basic statistics along the way, too.

[3] We will finish with Graphics including Histograms, Boxplots, and Scatterplots.

II. Pre-Workshop Software Installation

So that we can make the best use of our time in class, please setup your laptop beforehand. The instructions below describe installing and testing the items we'll use in the Workshop. If anything here is unclear, please email me or post a note in the comments, and we'll help you fix any issues. You'll have four steps to get your laptop ready:

(1) Install R

(2) Install RStudio

(3) Load the Workshop example file

(4) Test the Installation

What if I already have this software installed?

Definitely upgrade by following the instructions below. RStudio and R have are under very active development, and you'll get the most out of the Workshop if your installation is in sync with the course.

(1) Install R

Open http://cran.r-project.org/

In the section Download and Install R, choose Windows / Linux / Mac OS X

Note for Windows users: You only need the base package for this workshop ("Binaries for base distribution")

Note for Mac OS X users: You need only the R binary.

(2) Install RStudio

Open http://www.rstudio.com/ide/download/desktop

Install the appropriate package for your platform

Note: Windows users need Administrator privileges to install RStudio

(3) Install the Workshop example files

Go to https://www.meetup.com/Boston-Predictive-Analytics/files/ and download the file: r-growth (http://files.meetup.com/1676436/r-growth.R)

(4) Test Your Installation

Click File / Open file

open the file r-growth.R

In the upper-left RStudio panel, click "Source"

You should see a graph in the bottom-right panel.

If you saw a graph Growth of R, congrats, everything is working!

Please post your experiences with these installation instructions, and we'll make sure things are going smoothly.