Accessing R and RStudio

Published

August 3, 2024

The steps for installing R and RStudio are listed below, but detailed instructions follow for both Windows and Mac OS systems.

  1. Install R: R is a computing language which has been optimized for use in statistics, data analytics, and data science.
  2. Install RStudio: RStudio is a convenient way to interface with the R language. Think of R as “Spanish” and RStudio as Microsoft Word – you can write R in RStudio, just like you can write Spanish text in Microsoft Word.

1. Installing R

Installing R is quite simple. Navigate to CRAN (the Comprehensive R Archive Network) and choose the link corresponding to your operating system. Follow the instructions below corresponding to your operating system below.

Windows:

  • Click the link titled Install R for the first time.
  • Click the link to Download R X.Y.Z for Windows.
  • Once the download completes, run the installer – keep all of the default options.

MACOS:

  • After clicking the link for the Mac OS X operating system, look for the link titled R-X.Y.Z.pkg. Click this link and follow the installation instructions. Keep all of the defaults set.

2. Installing RStudio

  • To install RStudio, click this link.
  • Posit will automatically detect your operating system. Click the download link presented to you. It is a blue button underneath step “2.” – you’ve already done step “1.”.
  • Once the download has finished, run the installer – keep all of the default options.