Statistical Analysis with R

The digital world we live in has given companies and people access to staggering amounts of data, and anyone who can make use of that to drive valuable insights stands to benefit. The ability to work with large amounts of data is becoming a standard requirement for countless jobs across multiple industries.

R, probably the most well-known language for data analysis, has been used for years due to its robust statistical functionality, outstanding graphing ability, and extensibility through packages.

This interactive module will get us up to speed with R and assumes no prior knowledge of it. We'll start with the very basics and work our way up to advanced concepts like exception handling. By the time we're done, we'll be able to write detailed, useful code in R.

Learn R from Scratch

# Basic Data Types in R
> Everything in R is an **object**.

R is a language designed to store, manipulate, and work with _Data_. Thus, it makes sense to make all utilities of R an **object** that stores _data_.

In every computer language, **variables** are used for accessing data stored in memory. R does not provide direct access to the computer’s memory but rather provides several specialized **data structures** referred to as **objects**. These objects can be symbols, variables, functions, etc.

## Variables in R
Variables are used to **store data**. Their value can be changed, used and manipulated according to need. A unique name given to a variable (function or object as well) is called an `identifier`.

> **Important points while writing Identifiers in R:** Identifiers can have a combination of letters, digits, one period `.` and one underscore `_`.
However, they must start with a **letter** or a **period**. If it starts with a period, it cannot be followed by a **digit**.
**Reserved words** in R cannot be used as identifiers!

Reserved words are keywords that have special meaning and functions, for example, `pi` is a reserved word. It has a value of $3.141..$. As we move ahead in the course we will encounter many reserved words and learn their functions.

To declare a variable, we need to assign a variable an identifier.

To add value to the variable, we can use `<-`, `=` or `->`.

### Syntax for declaring variables in R
```r
# declaring a variable using `<-`
nameOfVariable <- value

# declaring a variable using `=`
nameOfVariable = value

# declaring a variable using `->`
value -> nameOfVariable
```

## Main Data Types
To make the best of the R language, we need a strong understanding of the basic data types in R. R has **five** main data types. 

Let's begin with discussing the basic data types in R, declaring variables and more.

Getting Started

Variables

Exploring R Objects

R Operators and Notation

Conditional Statements

Loops

Functions

Input/Output

Exception Handling

Classes

Fun Challenges

Conclusion

Data Types

Basic Data Types in R

Variables in R