PrintRStudio/R is a standard statistical analysis package that is free, is extensible, and contains many new methods and analysis that are contributed by researchers across the globe.
Install R First
Navigate to the R website and choose the CRAN link under Download in the menu at the left.
Select a CRAN location. R is hosted at multiple locations around the world to enable quicker downloads. Choose a location (any site will do) from which, among other things, you will obtain various packages used during your coding.
On the next page, under Download and Install R, choose the appropriate OS for your computer.
Windows installs
On the next page, for most of you, you will want to choose the Install R for the first time link (on Windows). Note that the link you select is unique to the CRAN site you selected.
On the next page, choose the Download R 4.1.2 for Windows link (or whatever version is current).
The file that is downloaded is titled R-4.1.2-win.exe (note that the 4.1.2 specifies the version while win indicates the OS).
Once the file is downloaded, initiate the executable and follow the prompts to download and install R.
Mac OS X installs
From the Download and Install page, simply choose the link for the latest release package (for Mac OSX) and then double-click the downloaded installer and follow the installation prompts.
Note: If you have a recently purchased Mac with the new M1 chip, you need to make sure you select the installer for that hardware framework (and vice-versa for slightly older machines, which use the Intel chips).
Install RStudio
Once R is successfully installed, you can download and install RStudio.
You'll install RStudio at this link. Versions are available for all the major platforms. RStudio offers several price points. Choose the price point you are interested in and download and install RStudio. (I assume you are interested in the FREE version).
Once both R and RStudio are installed, start RStudio.
The console window appears as shown in Figure 2.4. The console window includes many components. The Console tab is where you will do your coding. You can also go to File - New File - R Script to open the Source window and enter your code there. The Environment tab in the upper-right corner shows information about variables and their contents. The History tab allows you to see the history of your coding and changes. The lower-right corner has several tabs. The Plots tab shows you any graphical output (such as histograms, boxplots, maps, etc.) that your code outputs. The Packages tab allows you to, among other things, check to see which packages are currently installed with your program. The Help tab allows you to search for R functions and learn more about their utility in your code.
As you work through your code, you should get in the habit of saving your work often. Compared to other programs, R is very stable, but you never know. You can save your R code by looking under File and choosing the Save As option. Name your code file something logical like Lesson_2.
