Beginning R: The Statistical Programming Language 1st Edition

I have experience with statistics, SAS, and C programming, but I had no experience with R. The book has been quite useful for learning the basics of R programming. The features I particularly like are: (1) end of chapter summaries, (2) practice problems, with solutions at the end of the book, and (3) clearly written explanations of 'How It Works'.The author covers how to use R to conduct statistical analyses that would be covered in a basic or advanced undergraduate statistics class. As noted in another review, the focus is on how to conduct an analysis (e.g., t-test), not why a t-test would be appropriate.The book would be a great companion to a statistics book such as Howell's Statistical Methods for Psychology. Students who are enrolled in a statistics class or have had a statistics class and want to learn R may benefit the most from the book. The practice problems with solutions make it quite useful for self-teaching.

A very good starter for students learning statistical programming in R. Highly recommend it!

Updating my review and raised it a star...This is a good third level book. It makes very little use of any 3rd party packages. Just native R functions.After you have played with R for a semester, this may be a good follow on book. It will improve your R knowledge and decide how deep you want to go into programming with R.There is 5 different ways to do stuff, so ever book shows a different way. Not relaying on packages gives some "behind the scenes" on what is happening.********Original Review********The book really shouldn't start with Beginning R. On the book cover it says programmer to programmer in small text in the upper right hand corner. Programmers is who the book is directed at.I bought the book because it had Beginning in the title and the kindle version price was reasonable.1. The book assumes you have the required math/statistics knowledge already.2. The book assumes you have a good understanding of programming already.Based on my quick look at the book last night this isn't a book for someone familiar with the research methods based approach. The use of the word "independent" is only 3 times in the context of "independent variable" in the entire book. There is 3 sample PDFs on the books web site. just google for it.I will update my review in a couple months after I have progressed in my knowledge more, but wanted to help out those who were considering this book.Also the "R for dummies" and "Art of R programming" are not intro books either. The R for dummies book is more disappointing as dummies books are usually good intro books.

Great beginners resource.

I read the book from the perspective of an experienced software developer and found that the book described R's functions and capabilties in a manner that was too simple and from my perspective and didn't require the level of details provided in the book. But with that being said, the book would be perfect for perhaps researchers or scientists with a less-strong programming background because it guides the users through the basics of beginning data analyses with R with thorough examples and exercises. I found the book requires a grasp of statistics to really appreciate the content (even though some concepts are explained). Only one chapter seemed relevant for the actual "programming" of R. On the other hand I got a decent enough overview of the nature of functions built into R.

R is hard; this book makes it a little bit easier

This book is horrible. I have to use another stats book to understand. It says its not a stats book. It's more of a ref book after you already learned stats and R. It doesnt explain anything well.

Good book good quality good delivery