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r_resources_and_getting_help.Rmd
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---
title: "R Resources & Getting Help"
author: "Brian High, Nancy Carmona & Chris Zuidema"
date: ""
output:
ioslides_presentation:
fig_caption: yes
fig_height: 3
fig_retina: 1
fig_width: 5
keep_md: yes
logo: images/logo_128.png
smaller: yes
---
```{r set_knitr_options, echo=FALSE, message=FALSE, warning=FALSE}
suppressMessages(library(knitr))
opts_chunk$set(tidy=FALSE, cache=TRUE, echo=TRUE, message=FALSE)
```
## Learning Objectives
You will learn about:
* R's Internal Help Features
* R Package Documentation
* Support through Online Forums
* How to Ask for Help
* Free Online R Courses
* Free Online R Tutorials
* Free R Books
## R's Internal Help Features
You can access R's internal documentation with functions like:
```{r, eval=FALSE}
# Example # Description
# ------------------------------------- # --------------------------------------
help.start() # Open the top-level help index
help(vector) # Search the help system by topic
?matrix # (same as above)
help.search("RNA") # Search the help system by string
??hookworm # (same as above)
apropos("array") # Find objects by partial name
args(read.table) # Shows the arguments for a function
example(data.frame) # Run the example code from the package
vignette(package = "data.table") # Show list of vignettes for this package
vignette("datatable-intro-vignette") # Open this vignette in the help viewer
browseVignettes("grid") # Show an HTML page of vignettes for a topic
RSiteSearch("tibble") # Search http://search.r-project.org
demo(graphics) # Run the demo script for this package
```
As shown above, some help functions expect the argument to be quoted.
The first link provided by `help.start()` goes to [An Introduction to R](https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-intro.html).
See also: [R FAQ](https://cran.r-project.org/doc/FAQ/R-FAQ.html),
[Getting Help with R](https://www.r-project.org/help.html) (R Project),
and [Getting Help with R](https://support.rstudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/200552336-Getting-Help-with-R) (RStudio).
## The Help Tab in the Viewer Pane
## R Package Documentation
A package will usually have documentation containing one or more of the following:
* index
* a DESCRIPTION file
* guides for functions (with examples), classes, and data
* vignettes, including tutorials and FAQs
* demos
* a NEWS file
The index for CRAN packages can be found using a URL like:
```
https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/PACKAGE/index.html
```
... where PACKAGE would be replaced with the actual package name.
Example: [tidyr package index](https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/index.html)
## R Cheat Sheets
Many R packages have [Cheatsheets](https://posit.co/resources/cheatsheets/)
to help with common tasks and questions.
## Support through Online Forums
If you have searched [R Seek](http://rseek.org/), the online documentation, and
the web in general -- and still can't solve your problem, you can request help by
posting to an online forum.
### Help Forums
* [r-help](https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help) - primary support mailing list
* [Stack Overflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/r) - programming questions
* [Cross Validated](http://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/r) - stats questions
### General Discussion Forums
* Reddit [R language](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rlanguage/)
* Quora [R programming language](https://www.quora.com/topic/R-programming-language)
## How to Ask for Help
There are several guides to asking for help in a way which will not annoy the
support forum.
* [How to ask for R help](http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2014/01/how-to-ask-for-r-help.html)
* [Three tips for posting good questions to R-help and Stack Overflow](https://www.r-bloggers.com/three-tips-for-posting-good-questions-to-r-help-and-stack-overflow/)
* [Seeking Help](http://r-bio.github.io/seeking-help/)
* [How to Get Help](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFaWxxzouCY) (Youtube video by Roger Peng)
Basically, when posting questions:
* Do your homework carefully
* Be clear, specific, and thorough
* Be respectful and mature
* Provide a [reproducible example](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5963269/how-to-make-a-great-r-reproducible-example%20) of your problem
* Don't expect strangers on the Internet to solve your homework problems for you
## Our Favorite Free Online R Courses
* [Introduction to Data Science with R](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiKxy5IecUw&list=PLycnP7USbo1XGmTeFAAzr79e8V7zr7Ccx)
- By Roger Peng - YouTube - **free**
- See: [his books](https://leanpub.com/u/rdpeng)
- See also: [Coursera Data Science Specialization](https://www.coursera.org/specializations/jhu-data-science), **free to audit with registration**
* [Learning R](https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-r-2) (3 hours)
- By Barton Poulson - LinkedIn - **free with [UW login](https://lnkd.in/ge35aet)**
- See also: R Essential Training [Part 1](https://bit.ly/3hvZk14) and [Part 2](https://bit.ly/35sPYRs) (8 hours total)
- And: [Master R for Data Science](https://www.linkedin.com/learning/paths/master-r-for-data-science) learning path (9 courses, 20 hours total)
* [R for the Intimidated](https://www.datacamp.com/courses/r-for-the-intimidated) (2 hours)
- By Annika Salzberg - DataCamp - **free with registration**
* [Statistics and R for the Life Sciences](https://www.edx.org/course/statistics-r-life-sciences-harvardx-ph525-1x)
- By Rafael Irizarry and Michael Love - edX - **free with registration**
- Part of an entire 8-course series
## Our Favorite Free Online R Tutorials
### CodeSchool's Try-R
You do not need to "register" or create an account to run the tutorial. This tutorial is aimed at first-time R users. ([Try-R](http://tryr.codeschool.com/))
### Swirl tutorials
See if you can get through all 15 segments of the "R Programming: The basics of programming in R" course ([Swirl](http://swirlstats.com/students.html),
[Swirl Guide](https://github.com/ClaudiaBrauer/A-very-short-introduction-to-R/blob/master/documents/Using%20swirl%20to%20practise%20R.pdf)). Use the alternative version, "R Programming Alt". Install it like this:
```{r, eval=FALSE}
install.packages("swirl")
library(swirl)
install_from_swirl("R Programming Alt")
swirl()
```
## R Books: "Free" (UW-licensed) eBooks
These are available at no cost to [UW](https://www.lib.washington.edu/) students,
staff, or faculty. The links we have provided (for the title text) are to the
UW-licensed copy. There are many more R books available through the UW, but these
are some of our favorites.
- [Beginning Data Science with R](http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/UW:all:CP71215329450001451)
- by Manas A. Pathak
- [R for Stata Users](http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/UW:all:CP71161669170001451)
- by Robert A. Muenchen and Joseph Hilbe
- [R in a Nutshell](http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/UW:all:CP71155074480001451) First Edition and [R in a Nutshell](https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/kjtuig/CP71189583280001451) Second Edition
- by Joseph Adler and M. Eng
- [R by example](http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/UW:all:CP71109296790001451)
- by Jim Albert and Maria L. Rizzo
- [The Art of R Programming: A Tour of Statistical Software Design](https://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/kjtuig/CP71185032870001451)
- by Norman Matloff
- [Data Science in R](http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/UW:all:CP71284212860001451)
- by Deborah Nolan
## More of Our Favorite R Books
These ebooks are from the developers of the Tidyverse family of packages:
* [R for Data Science](https://r4ds.hadley.nz/)
- by Hadley Wickham, Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel & Garrett Grolemund
* [Advanced R](https://adv-r.hadley.nz/)
- by Hadley Wickham
The [UW](https://www.lib.washington.edu/) has all of these (in print and ebook
editions) and the Seattle Public Library ([SPL](http://www.spl.org/)) has two
of these as eBooks through O'Reilly's Safari website. Seattle residents may
obtain a free SPL [library card](http://www.spl.org/using-the-library/get-started/get-a-library-card) to gain access to these eBooks. The title text has been linked to the publisher's website for each book.
* [R for Everyone: Advanced Analytics and Graphics](http://www.jaredlander.com/r-for-everyone/)
- by Jared P. Lander ( [GOOG](https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=intitle:%22R+for+Everyone%3A+Advanced+Analytics+and+Graphics%22&num=10&gws_rd=ssl) | [AMZN](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321888030/?tag=5308-0610-7646) | [UW](http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?fn=search&ct=search&vid=UW&vl%28753972432UI0%29=title&vl%281UIStartWith0%29=starts+with&vl%28freeText0%29=%22R+for+Everyone%3A+Advanced+Analytics+and+Graphics%22&Submit=Search) )
* [R in Action: Data Analysis and Graphics with R](https://www.manning.com/books/r-in-action-second-edition)
- by Robert Kabacoff ( [GOOG](https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=intitle:%22R+in+Action%3A+Data+Analysis+and+Graphics+with+R%22&num=10&gws_rd=ssl) | [AMZN](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1617291382/?tag=5308-0610-7646) | [SPL](https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/search?t=title&search_category=title&q=%22R+in+Action%3A+Data+Analysis+and+Graphics+with+R%22&commit=Search) | [UW](http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?fn=search&ct=search&vid=UW&vl%28753972432UI0%29=title&vl%281UIStartWith0%29=starts+with&vl%28freeText0%29=%22R+in+Action%3A+Data+Analysis+and+Graphics+with+R%22&Submit=Search) )
##
```{r child = 'images/questions.html'}
```