What is R?

What is R?

R is a software package especially suitable for data analysis and graphical representation. Functions and results of analysis are all stored as objects, allowing easy function modification and model building. R provides the language, tool, and environment in one convenient package.
It is very flexible and highly customizable. Excellent graphical tools make R an ideal environment for EDA (Exploratory Data Analysis). Since most high level functions are written in R language itself, you can learn the language by studying the function code.
On the other hand, R has a few weaknesses. For example, R is not particularly efficient in handling large data sets. Also, it is rather slow in executing a large number of for loops, compared to compiler languages such as C/C++. Learning curve is somewhat steep compared to "point and click" software.