Projects in RStudio
Projects in RStudio
In this tutorial, you will be using RStudio , a free and open-source integrated development environment (IDE) for R. RStudio makes programming in R easier and quicker. Working in a project also automatically sets the working directory, something you have to do manually when writing R scripts outside of projects. The first step to start work on a new script or analysis is to open Rstudio, and then create a project.
Creating a Project
RStudio projects are associated with R working directories. You can create an RStudio project:
In a brand new directory
In an existing directory where you already have R code and data
Advanced: by cloning a version control (Git or Subversion) repository
We will create a project in a new directory. To do this, use the Create Project command on the toolbar, or go to File > New Project.
Then select New Directory > New Project, and fill in a Directory Name (this is the name of your project, we will use “dawn-course” for this tutorial). Then click on Browse to select in which directory you want the project to live (your desktop is ok for now).
When a new project is created in RStudio, this:
Creates a project file (with an .Rproj extension) within the project directory. This file contains various project options and can also be used as a shortcut for opening the project directly from the filesystem.
Creates a hidden directory (named .Rproj.user) where project-specific temporary files (e.g. auto-saved source documents, window-state, etc.) are stored. This directory is also automatically added to .Rbuildignore, .gitignore, etc. if required.
Loads the project into RStudio and display its name in the Projects toolbar (which is located on the far right side of the main toolbar).
Creating a File
No actual R file has been created yet though, so go to File > New File > R Script (or press CTRL + SHIFT + N).
Tip : Wherever we use the button CTRL, replace this with the CMD button (⌘) on Mac systems. A full list of shortcuts can be found here . This creates an empty, untitled R script. Now enter:
print("Hello World!")
In the top left area and click the save button or press CTRL + S to save the file.
Enter a name for the file, generally you would give this file the same name as the project, but with “.r” after it (so “dawn-course.r” if you followed our example above). Now to run our program, press CTRL + SHIFT + S or press the “Source” button.
This will run the entire script and output “Hello World!” to the Console screen under your script. Congratulations, you’ve run your first R script in Rstudio!