R Programming Language

R simply refers to the first names of the two inventors of the language, Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman at New Zealand’s University of Auckland in the 1990s. The R programming language, and software, was developed for use in both statistical and graphic computing. A number of updated versions have been developed, with the latest version 2.7.1 made available on June 23, 2008. R programming language is referred to as the implementation of the preceding S programming language, which has become the standard language for the development of statistical software.

The primary advantage of R programming language is it’s convenience to programmers in the wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques, along with the fact that it is very computer friendly and that it allows users to add functions and is compatible with long-standing languages, such as FORTRAN. R is also compatible with Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX applications. Another strength of R is the capability to produce quality publication graphics that the user can produce and apply easily to professional presentations. This level of interface provides advantages to manufacturing teams that have adopted lean, or agile models because R offers users the ability to make statistical and graphic changes that management can apply immediately to communicate updated customer requirements to all departments involved in their processes.

Companies and institutions involved with molecular biology have discovered successful applications of the R programming language in their laboratories and projects have developed R analysis packages specifically for use in the analysis of genomic data