[R-pkgs] Beta version of ggplot2

[hadley wickham]

Dear all,

I am pleased to announce the new beta release of ggplot2.  ggplot2 is
a plotting system for R, based on the grammar of graphics, which tries
to take the good parts of base and lattice graphics and none of the
bad parts.  It takes of many of the fiddly details that make plotting
a hassle (like drawing legends) as well as providing a powerful model
of graphics that makes it easy to produce complex multi-layered
graphics.

You can install ggplot2 from CRAN with the following code:
install.packages("ggplot2", dep=TRUE)

There have been a lot of changes to the syntax since the last version
of ggplot and I have renamed the package to ggplot2, so that you can
continue to use your existing code while you transition to the new
system.

As part of the release, I am working on a radically improved
documentation system, currently available at
http://had.co.nz/ggplot2/.  While I'm still working on the textual
explanations, I have mostly completed the examples, which are
displayed with both code and output.  There are over 480 example
graphics, so I hope you should be able to find an example
demonstrating whatever you need.  Any comments on the content and
display would be gratefully received.

In the next few days I will be adding the first chapters of the ggplot
book, which will provide a more systematic introduction to ggplot, the
theory behind it and more examples of its use.  The ggplot book will
be published with Springer, hopefully in Summer 2008.

The latest version of ggplot now provides a complete implementation of
the grammar of graphics, including new support for coordinate systems,
position adjustment (dodging, stacking and jittering).

This is a beta release, so there are still bugs in the code, and many
small aesthetic tweaks to be made.  If you encounter something that
doesn't work, doesn't make sense or you think could be improved,
please don't hesitate to contact me.

Again, you can find out more, and see hundreds of example graphics at
http://had.co.nz/ggplot2/.

Hadley

PS. If you are interested in learning more in person, have at look at
the courses available at http://lookingatdata.com.