[R] R vs Numpy

[Catherine Walt]

Thanks for Avi. and all other people's helps.

I am using Numpy primarily for machine learning, for example, Keras tasks can use Numpy heavily.

Now I got a task to analyze the BIO data, for which the Prof tell me R is better.
So I am looking into R. and I was just serious if Numpy can handle the BIO data well?

Regards
Cathy



October 29, 2021 3:32 AM, "Avi Gross via R-help" <r-help using r-project.org> wrote:

> I am not sure your overall question fits into this forum but a brief
> internet search can find plenty of info.
> 
> But in brief, R is a language in which much of what numpy does was built in
> from the start and many things are vectorized. Much of what the python
> pandas language does is also part of native R. There are additional packages
> (python called them modules) freely available that greatly extend those
> capabilities and I doubt there is very much you can do in numpy that cannot
> also often easily be done in R.
> 
> Realistically, there are several reasons the numpy module is so commonly
> used in python. They left something like vectors out of the language. Yes,
> they have dictionaries and lists and sets and all kinds of objects. So numpy
> was made mostly in C to provide numeric processing of things that are more
> like vectors efficiently. In R, everything is a vector as in a simple
> variable is just a vector of length one!
> 
> I program in both and in other languages as many do. Reasons to choose one
> or another vary. Python can do many things easily and with complexity and is
> a rather full-blown and complex language with real object-oriented
> capabilities and also functional programming. It is interpreted but also has
> a way to save partially compiled code. R is pretty much all interpreted
> albeit many things are written I C or C++ pr other compiled languages and
> stuffed into libraries. 
> 
> One main reason to choose is programming style but there are TONS of
> differences that can bite you such as R sometimes deferring evaluation of
> code which can be an advantage or the opposite. But a huge reason I think
> that people choose one or the other is the availability of packages that do
> much of what they want. Some, for example, love a set of packages they call
> the tidyverse and do much of their work largely within it rather than base
> R. Many love the graphics package called ggplot.
> 
> But over time, I see more and more functionality available within the Python
> community that rivals or perhaps exceeds such as the machine learning tools.
> 
> I have an interesting solution I sometimes use as you can run programs in R
> using a package that allows the same data to be accessed back and forth
> between an attached R interpreter and a Python interpreter. So if you want
> to use python features like dictionaries and list comprehensions to massage
> the data then have R do additional things and perhaps make graphs, you can
> get some of both worlds.
> 
> As noted, a detailed answer is way beyond here. R has packages that probably
> let you add things and it has too many object-oriented subsystems, most of
> them not complete.
> 
> Good Luck,
> 
> Avi
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: R-help <r-help-bounces using r-project.org> On Behalf Of Catherine Walt
> Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2021 2:57 AM
> To: r-help using r-project.org
> Subject: [R] R vs Numpy
> 
> Hello members,
> 
> I am familiar with python's Numpy.
> Now I am looking into R language.
> What is the main difference between these two languages? including
> advantages or disadvantages.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
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