7 of the Best Free Graphical User Interfaces for R

R is an open source programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It consists of a language together with a run-time environment with a debugger, graphics, access to system functions, and scripting.

The R language is extremely popular for developing statistical software, and is also frequently used as an analysis tool amongst data miners. R is an implementation of the S programming language, developed by Bell Laboratories, adding lexical scoping semantics. R offers a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques including time series analysis, linear and nonlinear modelling, classical statistical tests, classification, clustering, and more). Combined with a large collection of intermediate tools for data analysis, good data handling and storage, general matrix calculation toolbox, R offers a coherent and well developed system which is highly extensible.

Many statisticians use R with the command line. However, the command line can be quite daunting to a beginner of R. Fortunately, there are many different graphical user interfaces available for R which help to flatten the learning curve.

To provide an insight into the quality of software available for Linux, we have compiled a list of 7 of the best graphical user interfaces for R. Hopefully, there will be something of interest for anyone who wants to quickly get to grips with this programming language and environment. We give our highest recommendation to RStudio.

Now, let's explore the 7 graphical user interfaces tools at hand. For each application we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, screenshots, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.

Return to our complete collection of Group Tests, identifying the finest Linux software. We also recommend you check out the R-bloggers website, which offers a portal for R news and tutorials.

Last Updated Saturday, April 13 2013 @ 06:06 PM EDT