> From: Tracy Harms > > I've been asked how J compares to (and contrasts with) R. Because I've > never used R my only option for a timely reply is to turn to others, > so I'm passing this question on to the wider J community as I'm sure > some of you have a better sense of what the answers can be. > > If something along this line has already been written up, a pointer to > it would be fine. If not, I think the overlap in target audience is > great enough that it will be worth compiling some comparisons. >
I don't know R anywhere as well as I know J, but given that disclaimer here are my impressions: J - strong mathematical focus - conceptual framework for working with array data is very general, consistent and well thought out. - code is succinct/terse - object-oriented paradigm available but optional R - object-oriented paradigm is pervasive - strong statistical focus - mature/powerful plotting and graphics - larger user base - many user-contributed packages available - syntax for entering/manipulating arrays seems clumsy - code is relatively verbose - more accessible and extensive documentation If my major focus was statistical then I think R would be the obvious choice. However I find J's data manipulation features to be both simpler and more powerful. So my current have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too solution is to use J for creating and manipulating data, then use its Rserve interface to access features/packages from R. However so far my R usage has been "light". I found this post describing R interesting: http://tolstoy.newcastle.edu.au/R/help/04/06/0388.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
