[Rd] advice on writing/maintaining an R package with a version control system

[Vinh Nguyen]

Dear all,

As I resume my dissertation work next month, I'd like to actually
start an R package this time around.  I haven't done so because I
update my code very often (still in development phase), so running the
skeleton function, running checks, building, and re-installing the
package onto the system seemed like a long and tedious process.

I would like to hear your experience on how you start an R package
with a version control system.  Currently, I have most of my functions
in an R source file.  I expect to use a skeleton function to generate
the package directory (most likely Rcpp's), and start git as my
version control system (although the advice I'm seeking isn't
git-specific).  Once the version control system is set up, a few
questions:

1.  Do you update your code directly into the multiple R files in
./src, or do you update the main R source file?  I'm assuming the
former since we're using version control.
2.  What is your process for updating and testing your code?  Do you
run checks, build, and re-install the package to test?  Or do you have
some fancy workflow?  Please share.

Thanks for your advice.

Vinh
--
Vinh Nguyen
Department of Statistics
Donald Bren School of ICS
2231 Bren Hall
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92607
vqnguyen at uci.edu | http://www.ics.uci.edu/~vqnguyen/
Schedule a meeting: http://tungle.me/VinhNguyen