[R] [R-wiki] Packages - a great resource, but hard to find the right one

[Philippe Grosjean]

Martin Maechler wrote:
>>>>>> "JH" == Johannes Huesing <johannes at huesing.name>
>>>>>>     on Thu, 22 Nov 2007 22:14:57 +0100 writes:
> 
>     JH> Antony Unwin <unwin at math.uni-augsburg.de> [Thu, Nov 22,
>     JH> 2007 at 12:43:07PM CET]:
>     >> There have been several constructive responses to John
>     >> Sorkin's comment, but none of them are fully
>     >> satisfactory.  Of course, if you know the name of the
>     >> function you are looking for, there are lots of ways to
>     >> search ? provided that everyone calls the function by a
>     >> name that matches your search.
> 
>     JH> I follow the suggestion to Google (mostly restricted by
>     JH> site:cran.r-project.org) which gets me quite far.
> 
>     >> If you think there might be a function, but you don't
>     >> know the name, then you have to be lucky in how you
>     >> search.  R is a language and the suggestions so far seem
>     >> to me like dictionary suggestions, whereas maybe what
>     >> John is looking for is something more like a thesarus.
> 
>     JH> This is hard to do in a collaborative effort. One
>     JH> analogue is the HOWTOs vs the man pages which I see in
>     JH> Linux. Some of the HOWTOs are outstanding, the only
>     JH> problem they are facing is that they tend to be out of
>     JH> date.
> 
>     >> 
>     >> R packages are a strange collection, as befits a growing
>     >> language.  There are large packages, small packages, good
>     >> packages (and not so good packages), personal mixtures of
>     >> tools in packages, packages to accompany books,
>     >> superceded packages, unusual packages, everything.  Above
>     >> all there are lots of packages.  As the software editor
>     >> of the Journal of Statistical Software I suggested we
>     >> should review R packages.
> 
>     JH> You mean: prior to submission?
> 
>     >> No one has shown any enthusiasm for this suggestion, but
>     >> I think it would help.  Any volunteers?
> 
>     JH> I am still putting some hope into the R Wiki. To my
>     JH> dismay it is also package oriented, 
>     JH> not method-oriented. 
> 
> I don't think this is true; at least it's not at all intended.
> I'll *exceptionally* am crossposting this to the R-Wiki Special
> Interest Group.

The R-SIG-Wiki is there to discuss problems related to the Wiki. The 
Wiki itself, not the SIG, is the place where the information should go.

Indeed, the R Wiki goal is NOT to help finding which package to use (at 
least, not directly), but it's primary goal is to collect together 
additional documentation around R and R packages contributed by the 
users. So, the question about how to efficiently find the right function 
and documentation is still open (CRAN Task Views associated with 
Googling R stuff is probably the way to go here).

Although I am sure it is difficult to do, I also think that a review 
mechanism for packages would be nice. Another interesting approach is 
the test unit. It is already implemented, but should be used more 
intensively. The question is: could we maintain (and grow) a database of 
use cases, with examples datasets and typical results expected that we 
can use to test functions in R packages more intensively?

Best,

Philippe

>     JH> I tend to think that there is a chance
>     JH> of controlled documentation if somebody set out an
>     JH> infrastructure going beyond the current one. Anything
>     JH> like a classification of methods.
> 
>     JH> Thing is, I may like to volunteer, but not in the
>     JH> "here's a package for you to review by week 32"
>     JH> way. Rather in the way that I search a package which
>     JH> fits my problem. One package lets me down and I'd like
>     JH> to know other users and the maintainer about it.  The
>     JH> other one works black magic and I'd like to drop a
>     JH> raving review about it. This needs an infrastructure
>     JH> with a low barrier to entry. A wiki is not the worst
>     JH> idea if the initial infrastructure is geared at
>     JH> addressing problems rather than packages.
> 
>     JH> -- Johannes H�sing
> 
> 
> 
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