R is a statistical computing language. Used for data manipulation, data analysis and graphical display. Importantly R is free and open source software (FOSS) which means it is accessible to all.
- Longevity: R is a stable language with a strong emphasis on maintaining backward compatibility.
- Data structures are native to the language.
- Built-in graphics capabilities.
- Extensibility: Users can create their own functions and packages, making R highly customizable.
- Makes you think in terms of a workflow which is: repeatable to other cases; reproducible; and easy to maintain.
- Has many uses: data analysis; data visualisation; dashboards; interactive reporting; automated pipelines.
- Active and helpful community.
- Transferable skill.
- Productivity - reproducible and automatable pipelines can lead to more time being spent on other areas.
This series will run over six 1.5 hr "code along" interactive sessions on Wednesday afternoons.
No prior coding experienced is necessary.
Week 1: Introduction to R (7 May)
- Overview: Introduction to R programming language and RStudio environment.
- Topics Covered:
- Setting up R and RStudio
- Basic R syntax and operations
- Understanding data types and structures
- Writing simple scripts
- Reading and writing data from/to CSV
Week 2: Data Manipulation (14 May)
- Overview: Techniques for manipulating data in R.
- Topics Covered:
- Using {dplyr} for data manipulation
- Filtering, selecting, and arranging data
- Creating new variables
- Summarizing data
- Reading data from Excel
Week 3: Tidying Data (21 May)
- Overview: Methods for cleaning and tidying data.
- Topics Covered:
- Introduction to the {tidyr} package
- Reshaping data by pivoting
- Handling missing values
- Combining and splitting datasets
- Reading data from JSON
Week 4: Plotting (4 June)
- Overview: Creating visualizations in R.
- Topics Covered:
- Introduction to grammar of graphics and the {ggplot2} package
- Basic plots: scatter plots, bar charts, histograms, lines
- Customizing plots: themes, labels, and colours
- Saving and exporting plots
Week 5: Tables, Dates, and Strings (11 June)
- Overview: Creating tables. Working with dates and string data.
- Topics Covered:
- Creating and manipulating tables
- Saving and exporting tables
- Handling dates
- String operations
- Formatting and parsing dates and strings
- Basic web scraping to import webpage tables
Week 6: Functional Programming and Quarto (18 June)
- Overview: Advanced topics in R programming.
- Topics Covered:
- Introduction to functional programming techniques
- Mapping functions
- Introduction to Quarto
- Using Quarto for dynamic documents
By the end of this series, participants will:
- Understand R programming basics.
- Be able to manipulate and tidy data.
- Create informative and aesthetically pleasing visualizations.
- Handle dates and strings with ease.
- Apply functional programming techniques.
- Use Quarto for dynamic reporting.