Overview of R and RStudio

Computational statistics is now an increasingly popular method of analysis for researchers that combines a vast array of algorithms, statistical methods, and the power of functional coding. The R programming language, in particular, has benefitted from this development alongside of traditional graphical user interface (GUI) software. Today, it has become the language of choice for empirical researchers. In this chapter, we introduce the R programming language as well as its popular development environment in the form of RStudio. We walk the reader through downloading both the R language and the RStudio integrated development environment (IDE). Then, we discuss the software layout and demonstrate how to interact with the software. Finally, we address creating and managing R projects and scripts, gaining access to documentation and help via various sources. This chapter is not intended as a tutorial on the writing of code in the R programming language. We do, however, provide useful open-source resources for learning R, which can be accessed from the R console RStudio environment.