It was not my intention to start any kind of war.

I do want to thank Katharine Mullen for sharing to link to the review in R News. It helps me understand why there might be some controversy over my positive experience with The R Book.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm working my through the book. I'm just beginning chapter 7 (on mathematics). But, I have found this book to be very accessible and helpful with no errors in the examples provided to this point.

As a long time programmer, I am reminded how different BASIC, c and c++ looked to me when I was just learning those languages, as opposed to how I might view them now. My needs and expectations as a newbie were different then, as well as the resources needed to support me.

So, I hope that those who are having problems getting started in R and who don't have an R mentor nearby, will not be discouraged by the R News review and check out The R Book out for themselves to see if it would be a good fit for them.

Best regards to all,

Bob Harris

Deepayan Sarkar <deepayan.sarkar@gmail.com> wrote: On 11/30/07, Uwe Ligges 
 wrote:
>
>
> Tom La Bone wrote:
> > IMHO "The R Book" is far better than indicated in that review and should be
> > near the top of the list for beginners looking for a "manual" for R.
>
> We can start a big war about that book now, but we should discuss useful
> things instead. I am currently reviewing this book for another journal
> and I think the review in R News is very well pointed.
>
> So, there are two very different opinions about the book among readers
> of this list, obviously. And if the facts given in the available review
> in R News do not convince readers of R-help, I'd suggest to take a look
> into the book before buying it.

They also need to decide if they are going to value the opinion of
other beginners (who probably wouldn't know good advice from bad) or
relative experts (who may no longer appreciate what a beginner is
really looking for); probably not an easy choice.

-Deepayan

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