Essential R to learn for statistics and data science in 2024

An opinionated guide to one of statistic's most valuable tools

The tl;dr

In order to really use statistics, you need to be proficient with programming since the most common statistical procedures are done with code. Python and R are the most popular candidates, but R has the edge of being a dedicated statistical programming language.

R has all of the typical elements of a programming language: basic data types, iteration, control flow, functions, packages, and a great IDE for developing programs.

But what distinguishes R from other languages is the tidyverse, a set of packages that work together to make statistical analysis and data science easy, reproducible and fast. Each part of the tidyverse is dedicated to a different aspect of the data science workflow: importing the data, tidying it, visualizing or analyzing it, and then sharing your work with others.

If you’re thinking about learning R in 2024, make a conscious effort to include the tidyverse in your learning plan.