Do not dispair, please

R will be new to most of you. In addition, I have found over the years teaching this class that there is a large disparity among students in their prior exposure to mathematical concepts, let alone coding. So let’s be realistic, learning R will be hard initially, but, you can do it.

On my part, I have created this online resource of the course as detailed as possible so you can get there by simply following the steps. I also included a comments section at the bottom of each section, so you can communicate any problem to get feedback from everyone.

You will not be penalized for asking a question on the forum, but you may get rewarded if you answer it correctly. You will not be penalized for answering wrong. So please let’s use that discussion platform.

But please be nice when asking and responding questions.

If you get frustrated figuring out how to do something, you have two likely paths.

One is getting upset, which uses about half of your brain power while the other half is trying to figure out the solution. The other path is to cool down, and have your entire brain power working on solving the problem. Which pathway makes the more sense?

Finding solutions to your R problems is a key skill that could save you hours of labor, and we have a dedicated section on how to find answers in the sea of information that is the web.

Using Nathaniel Phillips word’s from his R Bookdown YaRrr! The Pirate’s Guide to R, R is very much like a relationship. Like relationships, there are two major truths to R programming:

There is nothing more frustrating than when your code does not work
There is nothing more satisfying than when your code does work!

Figure 0.2: R is like a love relationship, from Nathaniel Phillips

There will be times, when You will run into error after error and pound your fists against the table screaming: “WHY ISN’T MY CODE WORKING?!?!? There must be something wrong with this stupid software!!!” You will spend hours trying to find a bug in your code, only to find that - frustratingly enough, you had had an extra space or missed a comma somewhere. Taken from Nathaniel Phillips.

If you go through a “nightmare” with R, you are not alone. We all went through that. I have to tell you, it will not go away. The more proficient you become, the more likely you will be to push the boundaries of what is possible and known, so certainly you will have many times in which your codes does not work. Think about Pasteur, at those moments.

There will be a steep learning curve, but while you get there keep cool, do not desperate. If you face any roadblock; first, calm down. Then, have Google help you.

Please think about this: in the next year or so, hopefully, you will be working at a company and/or doing grad school. At that moment, you really need to have mastered the capacity to solve problems by yourself. Gaining that independence will give you a huge advantage.

So it is important for you to figure out what is the best method for you to find solutions to your R problems. Learning how to find solutions to problems in the web will be part of the learning of this class, and later on we will do exercises on this.

If after you have done your best looking for a solution to a problem, but failed, then, reach out to me. I will be happy to help you. but I want to know that before hand you did your best to figure out the solution to your problem on your own.

Learning R will become increasingly easier over time. As you become more proficient, you will start making more sophisticated things with R. When it comes to doing things, with R, the sky is the limit. R would become nicer to you over time, from Nathaniel Phillips

Figure 0.3: R would become nicer to you over time, from Nathaniel Phillips

I want to caution, however, that this course requires a “good quality” “time commitment”.

Note my double intonation on “good quality” and on “time commitment”.

Please study during times you cannot be distracted. I cannot emphasize enough that spending lots of time studying is not the same as studying well.

As codes become longer and more complex, your mind would eventually need to focus to conceptualize the entire code. I can tell you with certainty that it will be much harder, border line impossible, to visualize large codes, if you are to be distracted.

Learning R will not be done in one hour before the exam. So take as much time as you can to study. With practice will come perfection.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that knowing how to use R is a skill that you want to learn. Of all the classes you will take at the University, this is one you want to put on your CV. Saying that you know R will be a very desirable skill for any job you end up doing.