[R] A comment about R:

[Berton Gunter]

Ummmm....

I cannot say how easy or hard R is to learn, but in response to the UCLA
commentary:

> However, I 
> feel like R
> is not so much of a statistical package as much as it is a statistical
> programming environment that has many new and cutting edge 
> features. 

Please note: the first sentence of the Preface of THE Green Book
(PROGRAMMING WITH DATA: A GUIDE TO THE S LANGUAGE) by John Chambers, the
inventor of the S Language, explicitly states:
 
"S is a programming language and environment for all kinds of computing
involving data."

I think this says that R is **not** meant to be a statistical package in the
conventional sense and should not be considered one. As computing involving
data is a complex and frequently messy business on both technical
(statistics), practical (messy data), and aesthetic (graphics, tables)
levels, it is perhaps to be expected that "a programming language and
environment for all kinds of computing involving data"  is complex.
Personally, I find that (Chambers's next sentence) R's ability "To turn
ideas into software, quickly and faithfully," to be a boon. But, then again,
I'm a statistical professional and not a "casual user."

Cheers,

-- Bert Gunter
Genentech Non-Clinical Statistics
South San Francisco, CA
 
"The business of the statistician is to catalyze the scientific learning
process."  - George E. P. Box