1.6 Software

There are two principle applications we’ll be using this semester in addition to the services listed previously: RStudio and GitHub Desktop. Both of these are open-source applications that can be downloaded and used without cost. All applications are available in our classroom, which you will have 24-hour access to throughout the semester.

1.6.1 R and RStudio

The primary tool we will use for data manipulation and analysis is the programming language R. R is open-source, freely available, and highly extensible analysis environment. We’ll use RStudio as the “front end” for our analyses. RStudio makes it easier to write R code and to produce well documented analyses. Like the R programming language itself, RStudio is freely available.

You will need to decide whether you want to install R and RStudio locally on a computer you own or if you would rather use the desktop computers in our computer lab. Detailed instructions are available for both options on the course website.

1.6.2 GitHub Desktop

You will need another free application called GitHub Desktop. This program allows you to easily copy data from GitHub onto your computer. It also makes it easy to upload files like labs and problem sets to GitHub. If you have already used Git via the command line, you can continue to do so without utilizing GitHub Desktop.

1.6.3 Additional Software

You will need to use some type of word processing and presentation software. We’ll use some specific R packages to produce output in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint formats, but these can be readily used with other programs (like Apple’s iWork suite) without actually having Microsoft Office installed on your computer. Resources will also be made available for students who wish to use R and LaTeX together to produce research deliverables based on plain text files.