[R] reducing learning curves?

Pfaff, Bernhard Dr.
Wed, 25 Jan 2006 10:53:27 -0000

Hello Michael,

you might want to utilise Emacs/ESS. ESS provides auto-completion by using
<TAB> for a process buffer '*R*' and C-c<TAB> for a source
file '*.R'
(ess-mode).

As far as debugging is concerned, R offers:

?browser
?debug
?trace

for example. Additionally, there is a CRAN package named 'debug'
available
and an article in RNews:
Mark Bravington. Debugging without (too many) tears. R News, 3(3):29-32,
December 2003, about it.

HTH,
Bernhard



-----Urspr??ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Michael [mailto:comtech.usa at gmail.com]
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 25. Januar 2006 09:10
An: R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
Betreff: [R] reducing learning curves?

Hi all,

I am really new to the R language. I am a long time Matlab and C++ user and
I was "forced" to learn R because I am taking a statistics class.

I am seeking to reduce the learning curve to as smooth as possible.

Are there any addon/plug-in features that can reduce the learning curve, for
example, the following features can be very helpful for new learners:

1. Matlab-like command line auto-completion: Matlab has huge amount of
command and nobody is able to remember them off the head. So a nice feature
of Matlab command line is that I just need to type the first a few letters
and then I press "TAB" key, there will be a list of possible commands
popping up so I just need to select one. This helps a lot in terms of
learning for new comers. A more advanced command auto-completion is Visual
C++-like, which is implemented in program editor. It helps a lot while doing
programming;

2. A good IDE editor with embedded inline debugger: can be as good as VC++,
but also can be as simple as Matlab's debugger, which can breakpoint and
trace line-by-line... the editor can do syntax correction, syntax check,
syntax highlighting, code formatting, etc.

Could you please recommend some good addon/plugins that have the above
features?

Could you please also suggest some tips/tools/tricks that can help me reduce
the learning curve?

Thank you very much!

Michael.

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