# Info for R users (Links, Manuals, Books, etc.)

#### Dason

For those new to R a GUI interface could be nice.

R Commander is a nice little GUI that can do some nice things for you. I've only used it on Ubuntu which you can get through the software manager but you can get it for windows/mac/linux (or so I've read).

I personally prefer the command line but to each their own.

#### bugman

##### Super Moderator
I read feedback on the R book and yes, it did get slammed a bit in th reviews.
I bought it anyway.

The disscussion on statistical theory is very good and chapter 4 on the creation/use/manipulation of data frames is very useful. Overall I like it and its nice to have a REAL book as a reference sometimes. Though I seem to always return to the package manuals and online help.

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#### bugman

##### Super Moderator
BTW,

"Mixed effects models in S and S-plus" by Pinheiro and Bates is worth every cent. Probably the only reference to mixed effects models you'll ever need.

##### Ninja say what!?!
Just wanted to thank you guys for putting this together. Finally getting to learn R this semester and I already know this thread will be most valuable to me.

#### Dason

That looks like it could be useful to Window's users if they haven't already found a clean way to upgrade and want to save some time during the upgrade process.

#### TheEcologist

##### Global Moderator
That looks like it could be useful to Window's users if they haven't already found a clean way to upgrade and want to save some time during the upgrade process.
Yeah, its only for windows as its not really an issue in Linux. Dont know about Mac.

#### Dason

This probably isn't the best place to put this but I just stumbled upon it and I liked it so I thought I would shared. If you want to post data so people can reproduce what you're doing the dput function is pretty useful! Example:
Code:
> a <- rnorm(20)
> dput(a)
c(0.199682671697792, 0.221405916576581, -0.540108061480237, -1.03454796714979,
0.855130785017209, -0.728297453334319, -0.124853295148411, 0.573593976345655,
0.587471048161332, -0.399657000174106, 0.0790025338361471, -1.15666859744187,
1.60341026811636, -1.77976433678292, -0.0700142083160872, -0.0661166488757114,
0.291312989757702, 1.07447980788710, -2.36116764231456, -0.188884077156038
)
>
which makes it easy for people to reproduce your data.

#### joseph.c

##### New Member
I had a crazy idea about how to explain R to new users without scaring them about advanced statistics. Basically, I try to teach them to use it like a calculator. If know absolute newbies, it might be helpful for them, too.

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Best-Free-Calculator-Software
(seriously, I don't say advanced statistical software anywhere)

Also, a more straight-forward link about R for people who have heard of it, but don't know what it is.
http://hubpages.com/hub/What-is-R-for-statistics

Hope it helps! Yay, R!

#### Dason

I had a crazy idea about how to explain R to new users without scaring them about advanced statistics. Basically, I try to teach them to use it like a calculator. If know absolute newbies, it might be helpful for them, too.

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Best-Free-Calculator-Software
(seriously, I don't say advanced statistical software anywhere)

Also, a more straight-forward link about R for people who have heard of it, but don't know what it is.
http://hubpages.com/hub/What-is-R-for-statistics

Hope it helps! Yay, R!
I have quite a bit to say on your posts. I don't really have the time to say all of it right now. I'll either come back and edit this or post later but suffice it to say that I don't quite agree with a lot of what you wrote.

#### TheEcologist

##### Global Moderator
This probably isn't the best place to put this but I just stumbled upon it and I liked it so I thought I would shared. If you want to post data so people can reproduce what you're doing the dput function is pretty useful! Example:
....
which makes it easy for people to reproduce your data.
Thats pretty useful, do you know about the page function?

Code:
# use it like this
a <- rnorm(20)
page(a)

# or with a function
page(optim)
This is especially useful when working in a terminal only environment (or webserver, supercomputer ect).