R help - Mar 2007 - [friday topic]: what exactly is statistical computing

Dear List,
on www.r-project.org, the title says 'The R Project for Statistical
Computing'.

but what exactly is the definition of statistical computing?

This means it comes with substantial statistical routines built-in.  You
could just as well use VBA or Java for your programming language, but
with those you would have to write pretty much any stat routine you
need.  With R, since it is a 'statistical computing' language, you know
that most of what you need has already been programmed, tested(?), and
is ready to use. 

I have seen you on this list for a while.  You already know all this.  I
am not sure why you are asking this question.

Roger

-----Original Message-----
From: r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch
[mailto:r-help-bounces at stat.math.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of Wensui Liu
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 9:43 AM
To: r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
Subject: [R] [friday topic]: what exactly is statistical computing

Dear List,
on www.r-project.org, the title says 'The R Project for Statistical
Computing'.

but what exactly is the definition of statistical computing?

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Wensui Liu writes:
 > but what exactly is the definition of statistical computing?

In my world, statistical computing is using computers for statistical
calculation and data management.  By "using computers" I mean
"using
computers for their greatest strengths," and by that I mean
programming them to do exactly what I need.

Joel

-- 
Joel J. Adamson
Biostatistician
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Unit
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA  02114
(617) 643-1432
(303) 880-3109





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Bos, Roger writes:
 > I have seen you on this list for a while.  You already know all this.  I
 > am not sure why you are asking this question.
 > 
 > Roger

I think "[friday topic]" means "fun discussion."

I agree with your main comment Roger; I often think about the power of
"straight-up" languages like C, Java, etc., and wonder "Why do we
need
so many statistical packages, much less totally awesome ones like S?"
  It would be a pain to have to program everything from scratch, and
having something like R eases the communication routes.

Joel

-- 
Joel J. Adamson
Biostatistician
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Unit
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA  02114
(617) 643-1432
(303) 880-3109





The information transmitted in this electronic communication is intended only
for the person or entity to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential
and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other
use of or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or
entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this
information in error, please contact the Compliance HelpLine at 800-856-1983 and
properly dispose of this information.