Preface

What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?

Alice, Alice in Wonderland

It’s wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it’s not for the timid.

Q, “Q Who?” Stark Trek: The Next Generation

When I began writing this book, I spent quite a bit of time searching for a good quote to start things off. I ended up with two. R is a wonderfully flexible platform and language for exploring, visualizing, and understanding data. I chose the quote from Alice in Wonderland to capture the flavor of statistical analysis today—an interactive process of exploration, visualization, and interpretation.

The second quote reflects the generally held notion that R is difficult to learn. What I hope to show you is that is doesn’t have to be. R is broad and powerful, with so many analytic and graphic functions available (more than 50,000 at last count) that it easily intimidates both novice and experienced users alike. But there is rhyme and reason to the apparent madness. With guidelines and instructions, you can navigate the tremendous resources available, selecting the tools you need to accomplish your work with style, elegance, efficiency—and more than a little coolness.