A Beginner's Guide to R

by Alain F. Zuur

Based on their extensive experience with teaching R and statistics to applied scientists, the authors provide a beginner's guide to R. To avoid the difficulty of teaching R and statistics at the same time, statistical methods are kept to a minimum. The text covers how to download and install R, import and manage data, elementary plotting, an introduction to functions, advanced plotting, and common beginner mistakes. This book contains everything you need to know to get started with R.“Its biggest advantage is that it aims only to teach R...It organizes R commands very efficiently, with much teaching guidance included. I would describe this book as being handy--it’s the kind of book that you want to keep in your jacket pocket or backpack all the time, ready for use, like a Swiss Army knife.” (Loveday Conquest, University of Washington)“Whilst several books focus on learning statistics in R..., the authors of this book fill a gap in the market by focusing on learning R whilst almost completely avoiding any statistical jargon...The fact that the authors have very extensive experience of teaching R to absolute beginners shines throughout.” (Mark Mainwaring, Lancaster University)“Exactly what is needed...This is great, nice work. I love the ecological/biological examples; they will be an enormous help.” (Andrew J. Tyne, University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

Genres: Programming, Nonfiction, Reference, Science, Computer Science

238 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent review.

[Amr Khaled · Rating 3 out of 5]

The code in the book is non-excutable, rendering the exercises almost entirely useless.
It glosses over helpful functions swiftly, and takes its sweet time over less useful functions.
Not a good starting step.

[Muthumini Bandara Rathnathilaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book to start R.

[Iakovos (Jake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent loops - very straightforward, easy language!

Useful for beginners and intermediate R users!

[Peipei · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very good written book. It’s just a bit old. Some information needs to be updated.

[Beata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent intro to learning R. I liked the end of chapter command summary table. The book is full of practical examples which you can use immediately with your own data set. Also, having access to various other data sources (link provided by authors), and chapter exercises were key in learning the material.

[Earo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good starting point to R rather than "R intro", as a very beginner's perspective.

[Oliver Posegga · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to R. It's easy to read and provides useful examples. Great starting point.

[Francesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un'ottima guida (cartacea) per iniziare con R