Re: [R-pkg-devel] UseR! Session: Navigating the jungle of R packages.

[Ben Bolker]

  I don't have a problem with this, but there are a few challenges.

 - continuity: there used to be an R wiki, but it eventually disappeared
(http://wiki.r-project.org now redirects to the main www.r-project.org page)
 - actual contributions: I never got much feedback or contributions to
http://glmm.wikidot.com/glmmFAQ (which is now moved to
https://github.com/bbolker/mixedmodels-misc/blob/master/glmmFAQ.rmd ).
If individual task view maintainers wanted to post their stuff on
GitHub, it would make it easy for *some* users (those with a bit more
technical facility) to raise issues and submit pull requests ...)


On 17-02-11 12:09 PM, Spencer Graves wrote:
> Hi, Ben et al.:
> 
> 
>   What do you think about converting the Task Views into a wiki?
> 
> 
>   The Wikimedia rules do pretty well in inviting anyone to
> contribute material, ensuring that it is noteworthy and high quality,
> and managing any conflicts -- and no one person has to be responsible
> for any specific thing.
> 
> 
>   Spencer Graves
> 
> 
> On 2017-02-10 10:51 AM, Ben Bolker wrote:
>>I definitely read the task views and advise others to do so.  I
>> don't know how representative my little corner of the world is,
>> though.
>>
>>I have an embryonic task view on mixed models at
>> https://github.com/bbolker/mixedmodels-misc/blob/master/MixedModels.ctv
>> but the perfect is the enemy of the good ...
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 9:56 AM, J C Nash  wrote:
>>> We'd be more than happy to have you contribute directly. The goal is not
>>> just an
>>> information session, but to get some movement to ways to make the
>>> package
>>> collection(s)
>>> easier to use effectively. Note to selves: "effectively" is important
>>> -- we
>>> could make
>>> things easy by only recommending a few packages.
>>>
>>> Best, JN
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2017-02-10 09:29 AM, Michael Dewey wrote:
 Dear all

 That seems an interesting session. I am the maintainer of one of the
 CRAN
 Task Views (MetaAnalysis) and will attend
 unless I am successful in the draw for Wimbledon tickets.

 Just in case I strike lucky one question I would have raised from the
 floor if I were there would have been "Does anyone
 read the Task Views?". Since I started mine I have received only a
 couple
 of suggestions for additions including a very
 abrupt one about a package which had been included for months but whose
 author clearly did not read before writing. So I
 would ask whether we need to focus much energy on the Task Views.

 So, maybe see you there, maybe not.


 On 16/01/2017 14:57, ProfJCNash wrote:
> Navigating the Jungle of R Packages
>
> The R ecosystem has many packages in various collections,
> especially CRAN, Bioconductor, and GitHub. While this
> richness of choice speaks to the popularity and
> importance of R, the large number of contributed packages
> makes it difficult for users to find appropriate tools for
> their work.
>
> A session on this subject has been approved for UseR! in
> Brussels. The tentative structure is three short
> introductory presentations, followed by discussion or
> planning work to improve the tools available to help
> users find the best R package and function for their needs.
>
> The currently proposed topics are
>
> - wrapper packages that allow diverse tools that perform
>similar functions to be accessed by unified calls
>
> - collaborative mechanisms to create and update Task Views
>
> - search and sort tools to find packages.
>
> At the time of writing we have tentative presenters for
> the topics, but welcome others. We hope these presentations
> at useR! 2017 will be part of a larger discussion that will
> contribute to an increased team effort after the conference
> to improve the the support for R users in these areas.
>
>
> John Nash, Julia Silge, Spencer Graves
>
> __
> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel
>
>>> __
>>> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel
>

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Re: [R-pkg-devel] UseR! Session: Navigating the jungle of R packages.

[J C Nash]

Certainly Google can be useful, but it can also be infuriatingly time-wasting when one needs to sort out related tools 
that do slightly different things. Then good, up-to-date task views are important, and wrappers such as I and some 
others are trying to develop can be a way to ease the chore of applying the tools or changing between related ones where 
there isn't enough information on which is best.


Perhaps Jim, Spencer, and I (others welcome!) can come up with some small examples to show where Google / sos / other 
search tools and the task views (Julia?) can be illustrated to provide guidance. After all, the purpose of the UseR! 
session is to try to develop improved ways to access R's packages.


Cheers, John Nash

On 2017-02-10 05:26 PM, Jim Lemon wrote:

This discussion started me thinking about searching for a function or
package, as many questions on the R help list indicate the that poster
couldn't find (or hasn't searched for) what they want. I don't think I
have ever used task views. If I haven't got a clue where to look for
something, I use Google. I can't recall an occasion when I didn't get
an answer, even if it was that what I wanted didn't exist. Perhaps we
should ask why Google is so good at answering uninformed questions, in
particular about R. I'm not the only person on the help list who
advises the clueless to try Google.

Jim


On Sat, Feb 11, 2017 at 3:51 AM, Ben Bolker  wrote:

  I definitely read the task views and advise others to do so.  I
don't know how representative my little corner of the world is,
though.

  I have an embryonic task view on mixed models at
https://github.com/bbolker/mixedmodels-misc/blob/master/MixedModels.ctv
but the perfect is the enemy of the good ...


On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 9:56 AM, J C Nash  wrote:

We'd be more than happy to have you contribute directly. The goal is not
just an
information session, but to get some movement to ways to make the package
collection(s)
easier to use effectively. Note to selves: "effectively" is important -- we
could make
things easy by only recommending a few packages.

Best, JN


On 2017-02-10 09:29 AM, Michael Dewey wrote:


Dear all

That seems an interesting session. I am the maintainer of one of the CRAN
Task Views (MetaAnalysis) and will attend
unless I am successful in the draw for Wimbledon tickets.

Just in case I strike lucky one question I would have raised from the
floor if I were there would have been "Does anyone
read the Task Views?". Since I started mine I have received only a couple
of suggestions for additions including a very
abrupt one about a package which had been included for months but whose
author clearly did not read before writing. So I
would ask whether we need to focus much energy on the Task Views.

So, maybe see you there, maybe not.


On 16/01/2017 14:57, ProfJCNash wrote:


Navigating the Jungle of R Packages

The R ecosystem has many packages in various collections,
especially CRAN, Bioconductor, and GitHub. While this
richness of choice speaks to the popularity and
importance of R, the large number of contributed packages
makes it difficult for users to find appropriate tools for
their work.

A session on this subject has been approved for UseR! in
Brussels. The tentative structure is three short
introductory presentations, followed by discussion or
planning work to improve the tools available to help
users find the best R package and function for their needs.

The currently proposed topics are

- wrapper packages that allow diverse tools that perform
  similar functions to be accessed by unified calls

- collaborative mechanisms to create and update Task Views

- search and sort tools to find packages.

At the time of writing we have tentative presenters for
the topics, but welcome others. We hope these presentations
at useR! 2017 will be part of a larger discussion that will
contribute to an increased team effort after the conference
to improve the the support for R users in these areas.


John Nash, Julia Silge, Spencer Graves

__
R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
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Re: [R-pkg-devel] UseR! Session: Navigating the jungle of R packages.

[Jonathon Love]

hi,

first up let me apologise for breaking the thread. i subscribed to this 
list after the initial email went out.


i'm not completely sure if the original post was to prompt a discussion 
here, but now there's a discussion, i'm jumping in!


i'm a psychologist, and one of the challenges is the number of packages 
required to do what is "standard practice", and getting them all to work 
together.


to do an ANOVA (the bread and butter of psych research) with all it's 
assumption checks, contrasts, corrections, etc. requires in the order of 
seven packages.


our solution to this is to create an "uber" package, which makes use of 
all these things behind a single function call (with many arguments), 
which is what our jmv package is:


https://www.jamovi.org/jmv/

we represent an extreme, we even handle plots, but there are other 
examples of more intermediate solutions: afex, psych, etc.


i appreciate this is somewhat at odds with (what i perceive to be) the R 
ethos, which is giving people very fine control over the intermediate 
parts of one's analysis, but it is another approach to making it easier 
for people to find appropriate tools for their field.


for me, the key is being "goal-centred", "what is a person in my field 
trying to achieve?" rather than "analysis-centred"; "this package 
provides analysis X" ... but i appreciate this is likely an unpopular 
position.


i'll definitely be attending this session at use!R, and happy to espouse 
more unpopular views


cheers

jonathon



Navigating the Jungle of R Packages

The R ecosystem has many packages in various collections,
especially CRAN, Bioconductor, and GitHub. While this
richness of choice speaks to the popularity and
importance of R, the large number of contributed packages
makes it difficult for users to find appropriate tools for
their work.

A session on this subject has been approved for UseR! in
Brussels. The tentative structure is three short
introductory presentations, followed by discussion or
planning work to improve the tools available to help
users find the best R package and function for their needs.

The currently proposed topics are

- wrapper packages that allow diverse tools that perform
  similar functions to be accessed by unified calls

- collaborative mechanisms to create and update Task Views

- search and sort tools to find packages.

At the time of writing we have tentative presenters for
the topics, but welcome others. We hope these presentations
at useR! 2017 will be part of a larger discussion that will
contribute to an increased team effort after the conference
to improve the the support for R users in these areas.


John Nash, Julia Silge, Spencer Graves



__
R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel

Re: [R-pkg-devel] UseR! Session: Navigating the jungle of R packages.

[Jim Lemon]

This discussion started me thinking about searching for a function or
package, as many questions on the R help list indicate the that poster
couldn't find (or hasn't searched for) what they want. I don't think I
have ever used task views. If I haven't got a clue where to look for
something, I use Google. I can't recall an occasion when I didn't get
an answer, even if it was that what I wanted didn't exist. Perhaps we
should ask why Google is so good at answering uninformed questions, in
particular about R. I'm not the only person on the help list who
advises the clueless to try Google.

Jim


On Sat, Feb 11, 2017 at 3:51 AM, Ben Bolker  wrote:
>   I definitely read the task views and advise others to do so.  I
> don't know how representative my little corner of the world is,
> though.
>
>   I have an embryonic task view on mixed models at
> https://github.com/bbolker/mixedmodels-misc/blob/master/MixedModels.ctv
> but the perfect is the enemy of the good ...
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 9:56 AM, J C Nash  wrote:
>> We'd be more than happy to have you contribute directly. The goal is not
>> just an
>> information session, but to get some movement to ways to make the package
>> collection(s)
>> easier to use effectively. Note to selves: "effectively" is important -- we
>> could make
>> things easy by only recommending a few packages.
>>
>> Best, JN
>>
>>
>> On 2017-02-10 09:29 AM, Michael Dewey wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear all
>>>
>>> That seems an interesting session. I am the maintainer of one of the CRAN
>>> Task Views (MetaAnalysis) and will attend
>>> unless I am successful in the draw for Wimbledon tickets.
>>>
>>> Just in case I strike lucky one question I would have raised from the
>>> floor if I were there would have been "Does anyone
>>> read the Task Views?". Since I started mine I have received only a couple
>>> of suggestions for additions including a very
>>> abrupt one about a package which had been included for months but whose
>>> author clearly did not read before writing. So I
>>> would ask whether we need to focus much energy on the Task Views.
>>>
>>> So, maybe see you there, maybe not.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 16/01/2017 14:57, ProfJCNash wrote:

 Navigating the Jungle of R Packages

 The R ecosystem has many packages in various collections,
 especially CRAN, Bioconductor, and GitHub. While this
 richness of choice speaks to the popularity and
 importance of R, the large number of contributed packages
 makes it difficult for users to find appropriate tools for
 their work.

 A session on this subject has been approved for UseR! in
 Brussels. The tentative structure is three short
 introductory presentations, followed by discussion or
 planning work to improve the tools available to help
 users find the best R package and function for their needs.

 The currently proposed topics are

 - wrapper packages that allow diverse tools that perform
   similar functions to be accessed by unified calls

 - collaborative mechanisms to create and update Task Views

 - search and sort tools to find packages.

 At the time of writing we have tentative presenters for
 the topics, but welcome others. We hope these presentations
 at useR! 2017 will be part of a larger discussion that will
 contribute to an increased team effort after the conference
 to improve the the support for R users in these areas.


 John Nash, Julia Silge, Spencer Graves

 __
 R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
 https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel

>>>
>>
>> __
>> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel
>
> __
> R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel

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Re: [R-pkg-devel] UseR! Session: Navigating the jungle of R packages.

[J C Nash]

We'd be more than happy to have you contribute directly. The goal is not just an
information session, but to get some movement to ways to make the package 
collection(s)
easier to use effectively. Note to selves: "effectively" is important -- we 
could make
things easy by only recommending a few packages.

Best, JN


On 2017-02-10 09:29 AM, Michael Dewey wrote:

Dear all

That seems an interesting session. I am the maintainer of one of the CRAN Task 
Views (MetaAnalysis) and will attend
unless I am successful in the draw for Wimbledon tickets.

Just in case I strike lucky one question I would have raised from the floor if I 
were there would have been "Does anyone
read the Task Views?". Since I started mine I have received only a couple of 
suggestions for additions including a very
abrupt one about a package which had been included for months but whose author 
clearly did not read before writing. So I
would ask whether we need to focus much energy on the Task Views.

So, maybe see you there, maybe not.

On 16/01/2017 14:57, ProfJCNash wrote:

Navigating the Jungle of R Packages

The R ecosystem has many packages in various collections,
especially CRAN, Bioconductor, and GitHub. While this
richness of choice speaks to the popularity and
importance of R, the large number of contributed packages
makes it difficult for users to find appropriate tools for
their work.

A session on this subject has been approved for UseR! in
Brussels. The tentative structure is three short
introductory presentations, followed by discussion or
planning work to improve the tools available to help
users find the best R package and function for their needs.

The currently proposed topics are

- wrapper packages that allow diverse tools that perform
  similar functions to be accessed by unified calls

- collaborative mechanisms to create and update Task Views

- search and sort tools to find packages.

At the time of writing we have tentative presenters for
the topics, but welcome others. We hope these presentations
at useR! 2017 will be part of a larger discussion that will
contribute to an increased team effort after the conference
to improve the the support for R users in these areas.


John Nash, Julia Silge, Spencer Graves

__
R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel





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Re: [R-pkg-devel] UseR! Session: Navigating the jungle of R packages.

[Michael Dewey]

Dear all

That seems an interesting session. I am the maintainer of one of the 
CRAN Task Views (MetaAnalysis) and will attend unless I am successful in 
the draw for Wimbledon tickets.


Just in case I strike lucky one question I would have raised from the 
floor if I were there would have been "Does anyone read the Task 
Views?". Since I started mine I have received only a couple of 
suggestions for additions including a very abrupt one about a package 
which had been included for months but whose author clearly did not read 
before writing. So I would ask whether we need to focus much energy on 
the Task Views.


So, maybe see you there, maybe not.

On 16/01/2017 14:57, ProfJCNash wrote:

Navigating the Jungle of R Packages

The R ecosystem has many packages in various collections,
especially CRAN, Bioconductor, and GitHub. While this
richness of choice speaks to the popularity and
importance of R, the large number of contributed packages
makes it difficult for users to find appropriate tools for
their work.

A session on this subject has been approved for UseR! in
Brussels. The tentative structure is three short
introductory presentations, followed by discussion or
planning work to improve the tools available to help
users find the best R package and function for their needs.

The currently proposed topics are

- wrapper packages that allow diverse tools that perform
  similar functions to be accessed by unified calls

- collaborative mechanisms to create and update Task Views

- search and sort tools to find packages.

At the time of writing we have tentative presenters for
the topics, but welcome others. We hope these presentations
at useR! 2017 will be part of a larger discussion that will
contribute to an increased team effort after the conference
to improve the the support for R users in these areas.


John Nash, Julia Silge, Spencer Graves

__
R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel



--
Michael
http://www.dewey.myzen.co.uk/home.html

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[R-pkg-devel] UseR! Session: Navigating the jungle of R packages.

[ProfJCNash]

Navigating the Jungle of R Packages

The R ecosystem has many packages in various collections,
especially CRAN, Bioconductor, and GitHub. While this
richness of choice speaks to the popularity and
importance of R, the large number of contributed packages
makes it difficult for users to find appropriate tools for
their work.

A session on this subject has been approved for UseR! in
Brussels. The tentative structure is three short
introductory presentations, followed by discussion or
planning work to improve the tools available to help
users find the best R package and function for their needs.

The currently proposed topics are

- wrapper packages that allow diverse tools that perform
  similar functions to be accessed by unified calls

- collaborative mechanisms to create and update Task Views

- search and sort tools to find packages.

At the time of writing we have tentative presenters for
the topics, but welcome others. We hope these presentations
at useR! 2017 will be part of a larger discussion that will
contribute to an increased team effort after the conference
to improve the the support for R users in these areas.


John Nash, Julia Silge, Spencer Graves

__
R-package-devel@r-project.org mailing list
https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-package-devel