Chapter 1. Getting R

R is a wonderful tool for statistical analysis, visualization and reporting. Its usefulness is best seen in the wide variety of fields where it is used. We alone have used R for projects with banks, political campaigns, tech startups, food startups, international development and aid organizations, hospitals and real estate developers. Other areas where we have seen it used are online advertising, insurance, ecology, genetics and pharmaceuticals. R is used by statisticians with advanced machine learning training and by programmers familiar with other languages, and also by people who are not necessarily trained in advanced data analysis but are tired of using Excel.

Before it can be used it needs to be downloaded and installed, a process that is no more complicated than installing any other program.

1. Technically C++ cannot be set up on its own without a compiler, so something would still need to be installed anyway.

There are prebuilt installations available for Windows and Mac OS X while those for Linux usually compile from source. Installing R on any of these platforms is just like installing any other program.

Windows users should click the link Download R for Windows, then base and then Download R 3.x.x for Windows; the x’s indicate the version of R. This changes periodically as improvements are made.

Similarly, Mac users should click Download R for (Mac) OS X and then R-3.x.x.pkg; again, the x’s indicate the current version of R. This will also install both 32- and 64-bit versions.

Linux users should download R using their standard distribution mechanism whether that is apt-get (Ubuntu and Debian), zypper (SUSE) or another source. This will also build and install R.

Most R functionality is usually backward compatible with previous versions.

This is especially important starting with version 3.0.0, as that adds support for 64-bit integers, meaning far greater amounts of data can be stored in R objects.

In the past, certain packages required the 32-bit version of R but that is exceedingly rare these days. The only reason for installing the 32-bit version now is to support some legacy analysis or for use on a machine with a 32-bit processor such as Intel’s low-power Atom chip.

Figure 1.1 Location of R installer.

R should be installed using administrator privileges. This means right-clicking the installer and then selecting Run as Administrator. This brings up a prompt where the administrator password should be entered.

The first dialog, shown in Figure 1.2, offers a choice of language, defaulted at English. Choose the appropriate language and click OK.

Figure 1.2 Language selection.

Next, the caution shown in Figure 1.3 recommends that all other programs be closed. This advice is rarely followed or necessary anymore, so clicking Next is appropriate.

Figure 1.3 With modern versions of Windows, this suggestion can be safely ignored.

The software license is then displayed, as in Figure 1.4. R cannot be used without agreeing to this (important) license, so the only recourse is to click Next.

Figure 1.4 The license agreement must be acknowledged to use R.

The installer then asks for a destination location. Even though the official advice from CRAN is that R should be installed in a directory with no spaces in the name, half the time the default installation directory is Program FilesR, which causes trouble if we try to build packages that require compiled code such as C++ for FORTRAN. Figure 1.5 shows this dialog.

Figure 1.5 It is important to choose a destination folder with no spaces in the name.

If that is the case, click the Browse button to bring up folder options like the ones shown in Figure 1.6.

Figure 1.6 This dialog is used to choose the destination folder.

It is best to choose a destination folder that is on the C: drive (or another hard disk drive) or inside My Documents, which despite that user-friendly name is actually located at C:UsersUserNameDocuments, which contains no spaces. Figure 1.7 shows a proper destination for the installation.

Figure 1.7 This is a proper destination, with no spaces in the name.

Next, Figure 1.8, shows a list of components to install. Unless there is a specific need for 32-bit files, that option can be unchecked. Everything else should be selected.

Figure 1.8 It is best to select everything except 32-bit components.

The startup options should be left at the default, No, as in Figure 1.9, because there are not a lot of options and we recommend using RStudio as the front end anyway.

Figure 1.9 Accept the default startup options, as we recommend using RStudio as the front end and these will not be important.

Next, choose where to put the start menu shortcuts. We recommend simply using R and putting every version in there as shown in Figure 1.10.

Figure 1.10 Choose the Start Menu folder where the shortcuts will be installed.

We have many versions of R, all inside the same Start Menu folder, which allows code to be tested in different versions. This is illustrated in Figure 1.11.

Figure 1.11 We have multiple versions of R installed to allow development and testing with different versions.

The last option is choosing whether to complete some additional tasks such as creating a desktop icon (not too useful if using RStudio). We highly recommend saving the version number in the registry and associating R with RData files. These options are shown in Figure 1.12.

Figure 1.12 We recommend saving the version number in the registry and associating R with RData files.

Clicking Next begins installation and displays a progress bar, as shown in Figure 1.13.

Figure 1.13 A progress bar is displayed during installation.

The last step, shown in Figure 1.14, is to click Finish and the installation is complete.

Figure 1.14 Confirmation that installation is complete.

Figure 1.15 Introductory screen for installation on a Mac.

This brings up some information about the version of R being installed. There is nothing to do except click Continue, as shown in Figure 1.16.

Figure 1.16 Version selection.

Then the license information is displayed, as in Figure 1.17. Click Continue to proceed, the only viable option in order to use R.

Figure 1.17 The license agreement, which must be acknowledged to use R.

Click Agree to confirm that the license is agreed to, which is mandatory to use R as is evidenced in Figure 1.18.

Figure 1.18 The license agreement must also be agreed to.

To install R for all users, click Install; otherwise, click Change Install Location to pick a different location. This is shown in Figure 1.19.

Figure 1.19 By default R is installed for all users, although there is the option to choose a specific location.

If prompted, enter the necessary password as shown in Figure 1.20.

Figure 1.20 The administrator password might be required for installation.

This starts the installation process, which displays a progress bar as shown in Figure 1.21.

Figure 1.21 A progress bar is displayed during installation.

When done, the installer signals success as Figure 1.22 shows. Click Close to finish the installation.

Figure 1.22 This signals a successful installation.