Finding your way around R packages; Seamless R and C++ integration

Our next meeting we'll have Dirk Eddelbuettel as a guest speaker. Dirk is a contributor to the Debian and R projects, (co-)author of several CRAN packages, editor of the CRAN Task Views for Finance and High-Performance Computing and an editor for the Journal of Statistical Software. He works as a Senior Quantitative Analyst in Chicago.

The meeting will have 2 parts:

Part I. (5-6pm) Open discussions on how one can find his way around R packages. This will be along the line we started to talk about at a previous meeting (see Part II. of this: https://www.meetup.com... (https://www.meetup.com/LAarea-R-usergroup/calendar/11490723/) ). So, we'll discuss how a user (we) with a task in mind can find the tool (package/function etc.) in R that can help him solve the task. As Dirk is a great R contributor and very active on such forums as R-help and stackoverflow, you will have the opportunity (and you are encouraged) to ask questions and/or share your experience around this issue. We'll also hear from him about in which direction the R community is going now, and what to expect in the future.

During this part we'll have pizza and drinks sponsored by REvolution Computing ( https://www.revolution... (https://www.revolution-computing.com/) ), and it will also be an excellent opportunity for networking with your fellow group members.

Part II. (6-7pm) Rcpp: Seamless R and C++ integreation, Dirk Eddelbuettel

This talk discusses extending R using the standard foreign function interface (FFI) offered by the .Call() function. We focus on extensions using C++ via the Rcpp package (Eddelbuettel and Francois, 2010) and demonstrate its ease of use and performance with several examples. Use of Rcpp in other packages will also be discussed using concrete examples from the RInside, RProtoBuf and RcppArmadillo packages.

Please RSVP as places are limited.

Venue almost as usual: UCLA Boelter Hall Room 9413 (the lab) for Part II. (6-7pm), but the adjacent Room 9434 (the SCC, closer to the elevator) for Part I. (5-6pm)

Please note the meeting is on a Tuesday and starts at 5pm (not the usual day/time).

Important message for first comers: Please consult the detailed venue information given at the first meeting as many people had difficulties finding the place the first time: https://www.meetup.com... (https://www.meetup.com/LAarea-R-usergroup/calendar/10154603/)

Also, once you found the building, here is a video how to get to the room: https://www.youtube.co... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU9xtblRgy4&feature=player_embedded#)