getting-started.qmd

---
title: "Getting Started"
author: "Aubrey Mpungose"
---

## 1.1 Installing R  

- R Can be downloaded from CRAN, The Comprehensive R Archive Network. Simply go to the [CRAN wesbite](https://cloud.r-project.org/) 

- Download the latest version of R (currently R-4.2.1 ) depending on the operating system of your machine:

    - Windows
    - macOS
    - Linux
    
## 1.1 Installing RStudio

Rstudio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that makes it easier working with R. This might be trickier for beginners who are not familiar with programming. Think of R as the engine that makes the car run. RStudio would be additional aesthetics that makes the car look better. You can use R without RStudio to analyse data, but you cannot use RStudio without R. You can download the latest version of RStudio [here](https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/). Make sure to sure **RStudio Desktop**

::: {layout-ncol=2}
![R console](images/r_console.PNG)

![RStudio](images/rstudio.PNG)
:::

In RStudio, you have 4 panes, the script, where you can write lines of code and save the script for future purposes. On the top-right you have the _Environment_ pane, where we can view the list of _objects_ we have created in R; objects can include tables, datasets, models, plots, etc. On bottom-right, we have a console, it is the typical console we found R. Lastly, the last pane have different components/tabs: files tzb, where we can view the list of files we are connected to or are using; for example, where you stored you dataset. It also has a _plot_ tab, used for viewing plots/graphs.