R devel - Apr 2022 - I've written a big review of R. Can I get some feedback?

Hello,

For a while, I've been working on writing a very big review of R. I've
finally finished my final proofread of it. Can I get some feedback? This seems
the most appropriate place to ask. It's linked below.

https://github.com/ReeceGoding/Frustration-One-Year-With-R

If you think you've seen it before, that will be because it found some
popularity on Hacker News before I was done proofreading it. The reception seems
largely positive so far.

Thanks,
Reece Goding

Hi Reece,


Thanks for the article. What specific feedback do you seek for your writing?


Kindest Regards,
*Stephen Dawson, DSL*
/Executive Strategy Consultant/
Business & Technology
+1 (865) 804-3454
http://www.shdawson.com


On 4/9/22 15:52, Reece Goding wrote:
> Hello,
>
> For a while, I've been working on writing a very big review of R.
I've finally finished my final proofread of it. Can I get some feedback?
This seems the most appropriate place to ask. It's linked below.
>
> https://github.com/ReeceGoding/Frustration-One-Year-With-R
>
> If you think you've seen it before, that will be because it found some
popularity on Hacker News before I was done proofreading it. The reception seems
largely positive so far.
>
> Thanks,
> Reece Goding
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>

Any large community-based project is going to be driven by the willing
volunteers. Duncan Murdoch
has pointed this out a long time ago for R. Those who do are those who define
what is done.

That said, I've felt for quite a long time that the multiplicity of ways in
which R can do the same
tasks lead to confusion and errors. Arguably, a much stricter language
definition that could execute
95% of the existing user R scripts and programs would be welcome and provide a
tool that is easier
to maintain and, with a great deal of luck, lead to better maintainability of
user codes.

And, as others have pointed out, backward compatibility is a millstone.

Whether anything will happen depends on who steps up to participate in R.

In the meantime, I believe it is important for all R users to report and try to
fix those things
that are egregious faults, and documentation fixes are a very good starting
point.

John Nash


On 2022-04-09 15:52, Reece Goding wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> For a while, I've been working on writing a very big review of R.
I've finally finished my final proofread of it. Can I get some feedback?
This seems the most appropriate place to ask. It's linked below.
> 
> https://github.com/ReeceGoding/Frustration-One-Year-With-R
> 
> If you think you've seen it before, that will be because it found some
popularity on Hacker News before I was done proofreading it. The reception seems
largely positive so far.
> 
> Thanks,
> Reece Goding
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel