Martin Brown wrote: > [i sent this message earlier but apparently should have sent it plain > text, as follows..] > > Hi there, > > I would like some advice, not so much about how to use R, but about > software that I need to complement R. I've rooted around in the FAQ's > and done a few searches on this mailing list but haven't quite found > the perspective I need. > > I am an experienced data analyst in my field (forest ecology and > ecological monitoring) but new to R. I am a long time user of SPSS and > have gotten pretty handy with it. However, I am frustrated with SPSS > for several reasons: There's the cost (I'm a freelancer; I pay for my > software myself); the Windows dependence (I use Kubuntu as my usual > OS now, and switching back and forth is a pain); the horrible > inefficiency when I do certain types of file manipulations; and the > inability to do the kind of publication-quality graphs I want... I've > usually ended up using a commercial graphing program (another source > of expense and limitation). > > I'd like to switch to using R on Kubuntu, for all those reasons. In > addition I think the mathematical formality that R encourages might be > good for me. > > However, reviewing the FAQ's on the R project web site makes me > realize that I've been using SPSS as three kinds of software really: > a DBMS; a statistical analysis package; and a graphing package. It > looks like moving to R might involve learning three kinds of software, > not just one. I wonder: > > 1) What open-source DBMS works most seamlessly with R? I have seen > MySQL recommended but wonder if there are alternatives. I sometimes > need to handle big data files. In fact a lot of my work involves > exploratory and descriptive analyses of rather large and messy > databases from ecological monitoring, rather than statistical tests > per se. In SPSS the data files I have been generating have dozens of > columns and thousands of rows, often with value and variable labels > helpful for documenting my work. >
I think you won't find much difference in the R interface between MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite. The choice should be made based on the qualities of the database (and I don't know enough about the differences to give a recommendaton.) > 2) For the purpose of creating publication-quality graphs, do R users > typically need to go outside of the R system? If so, what open-source > programs would you all recommend? > R is great for this, but you might need to go outside for some specialized stuff (e.g. medical imaging). > 3) Any other software I need to learn that would make my work in R > more productive? (for example, a code editor). A lot of people are happy with ESS mode in Emacs. Duncan Murdoch ______________________________________________ R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.