10 Introduction

Now we have a basic understanding of some of the core concepts in R, let’s have a look at them in a bit more detail. In contrast to the previous section, here were going to focus on the underpinnings of R. You can kind of think of this section as being less practical and more theoretical.

Previous experience in different programming language will definitely help you, but it’s not mandatory. We’re going to take a look at some core programming concepts in the next few sections, and the explanations here should be more than enough. If you do have experience in other languages, then these sections will hopefully outline some of the idiosyncrasies of R that make it different to other languages.

If you’re going to teach R, this section will provide you with a good level of understanding. Hopefully, you’ll not only know how to do something when asked, but why you should do it that way.