Introduction to R Programming Language
Today in this article we will discuss about basic concepts of R programming language. Through this article we will know about what is R programming language its features, history, applications and why should we learn it.
So let's start.
What is R programming language?
R is a clean and accessible programming language which is used by many popular platforms like Uber, Airbnb and Facebook, etc. R programming language is an open source programming language which means that users can easily download and modify it from its official website for free.
R programming language is an interpreted programming language which supports feature of both procedural and object oriented programming approach. It supports the different concepts of object oriented programming approach like class, inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation and abstraction, etc.
R programming language is a platform independent or cross platform language which is mainly used for statistical computation and data analysis by data analyst, researches, statisticians and marketers, etc. It is a software environment which is popular for data modelling, reporting, graphical representation and analysis of statistical information.
R programming language include inbuilt rich libraries which are mainly designed for data science. R programming language is available in various operating systems like Unix, Linux, windows and MacOS, etc.
History of R programming language
There are various interesting facts related to the history of R programming language. So let's discuss about them in detail. R programming language was officially designed in 1992 by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman and it was initially developed in 1995 at the University of Auckland which is located in New Zealand. Robot Gentleman and Ross Ihaka are famously known as fathers or founders of R programming language.
R programming language is named after the names of both developers. In 2000, a stable beta version was launched of R programming language. R programming language is original based on traditional S programming language. And at current time, R programming language is develops by R development core team.
Features of R programming language
There are various features of R programming language which makes it popular, simple, reliable and easy to use programming language. So let's discuss the main features of R programming language which are as follow
1. Open source programming language
R programming language is an open source programming language which means that it is available for free and you can install and use it without any License. In R programming language, programmers can easily add more features and customise it according to the needs of of their projects or applications.
Programmers can easily customise its packages for free of cost and can also contribute in development of R programming language.
2. Object oriented programming
R programming language supports the feature of object oriented programming approach which makes it easy to develop and maintain. R programming language supports the different concepts of object oriented programming a process class, inheritance, abstraction, encapsulation, and polymorphism, etc.
The use of these concepts of object oriented programming approach also increases the speed.
3. Procedural programming
R programming language also supports the features of procedural programming approach. In procedural programming, there are specified steps for every program to solve a particular problem. R programming language also includes specified steps for each program to solve a particular problem.
4. Highly active community
R programming language also have a highly active community which helps in the evolution of R programming language. The community of R programming language is continuously contributing in the development of R programming language and the number of its users are increasing day by day.
As we know, R programming language is an open source programming language which is maintained and supported by a highly active users.
5. Interpreted programming language
R programming language is an interpreted programming language which means that there is no requirement of compilers in R programming language. R programming language do not need any compiler to change its code into machine understandable language as it is already converted into executable programs. And also due to this the scripts written in R programming language take less time in execution.
6. Platform independent programming
R programming language is the cross platform or platform independent programming language which means that it can be run on different operating systems like Windows, Linux, Unix and MacOS, etc. R programming language is machine independent language as it supports the cross platform operations.
7. Comprehensive language
R programming language is considered as comprehensive language which means that R programming language provides different services for both software development and statistical modelling.
R programming language is initially designed for data science as well as for developing different web applications. Are programming language also supports different programming styles.
8. Rich inbuilt library function
R programming language also provides a wide range of rich inbuilt libraries which are specially designed for data science and statistical analysis. It also provides a wide range of tools to select the right model for data.
Some additional features of R programming language are
• R programming language can handle both structured as well as unstructured data.
• packages of R programming language allows it to interact with databases.
• R programming language also contain packages with which it can use distributed computing feature.
• With the help of R programming language, we can perform complex statistical calculations.
• With R programming language, programmers can create and develop static graphics.
Applications of R programming language
R programming language is used in followings areas
1. In Research and academic
R programming language is mainly designed to perform statistical computation. The libraries of R programming language are initially designed for data science. Are is one of the most demanded programming language with which programmers can implement different statistical techniques such as time series analysis, classification, clusters, linear and nonlinear modelling, etc.
For example- the researches of Cornell University and University Of California uses R programming language in researches.
2. In IT sector
R programming language is also used by IT companies in order to build data handling products, statistical computing tools and they also used R programming language for their machine learning products.
The famous IT companies which uses R programming language are IBM, Accenture, Infosys, Wipro and Paytm, etc.
3. In finance
R programming language is also widely used in finance sector. For the financial tasks and computation of finance sector, R programming language provides and advanced statistical suite. With the help of R programming language and its library function finance sector can easily perform different tasks like auto regression, stock market modelling, time series analysis, moving averages, etc.
R programming language is used in different companies like Bajaj Allianz insurance, American express, JB Morgan and standard chartered, etc.
4. In e-commerce
R programming language is also used in e-commerce to improve the experience of users for their sites. They also use R programming language for marketing and finance purpose. Along with this, R programming language is used to improve their cross product selling.
R programming language is also help e-commerce in targeted advertising, marketing strategies, and financial data products, etc. Amazon and Flipkart uses R programming language for cross product selling and targeted advertisement.
Why should we learn R programming language? Or advantages of R programming language.
You must be wondering that why should we learn R programming language or what are the advantages of learning R programming language. So, here is the answer. R programming language is simple and easy to learn programming language which provides different advantages. The main advantages of learning R programming language are discuss as follow
• R programming language is a clean reliable and fast programming language.
• R programming language provides a rich in built library which is initially designed for data science.
• R programming language is an open-source free programming language which means that anyone can freely use it for their projects.
• R programming language provides a vast range of array of packages.
• R programming language shows great compatibility with other programming languages Python, Java, C and C++, etc.
• R programming language is a cross platform or platform independent programming language.
• it is the fastest growing programming language.
• it also has a vast community of users.
Conclusion
In this article we have discussed about what is R programming language, what are its features, history, applications and why should we learn R programming language. R programming language is a simple and open source programming language which is helpful in developing different web applications.
Beginners can easily learn R programming language as it is simple, easy to read and understand programming language. I hope this article will be helpful for you all.