Comments on: Programming book I wish someone would write: R, The Good Parts http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/ The blog of John D. Cook Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:10:06 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: The Art of R Programming — The Endeavour http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/comment-page-1/#comment-107277 The Art of R Programming — The Endeavour Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:01:57 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2057#comment-107277 [...] R: The Good Parts ? X [...] [...] R: The Good Parts ? X [...]

]]> By: Rick Wicklin http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/comment-page-1/#comment-94120 Rick Wicklin Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:02:38 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2057#comment-94120 And why stop there? Every language has its strengths and weaknesses. The advocates naturally stress the strengths, but it is knowing the weaknesses that separates the master from the apprentice. This could be a whole series of books: The Jedi Guide to : Use the Force and Avoid the Dark Side And why stop there? Every language has its strengths and weaknesses. The advocates naturally stress the strengths, but it is knowing the weaknesses that separates the master from the apprentice. This could be a whole series of books: The Jedi Guide to : Use the Force and Avoid the Dark Side

]]> By: Bryan http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/comment-page-1/#comment-16951 Bryan Tue, 05 May 2009 00:42:24 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2057#comment-16951 I think the Inferno covers the "R, The Bad Parts" area; I agree that I would like to see a complement that addresses the areas in which it excels. I think it would have to cover the apply() family and the ease of writing ad hoc functions. I agree that there is some poorly written and maintained code available for R - I know I've written my fair share - but the flexibility and adaptability that comes from R being an open source product is it's best feature. It's why it will succeed over slower moving more expensive packages. It would be nice not to have to deal with bad programming or unmaintained code, but the alternative is worse. I think the Inferno covers the “R, The Bad Parts” area; I agree that I would like to see a complement that addresses the areas in which it excels. I think it would have to cover the apply() family and the ease of writing ad hoc functions.

I agree that there is some poorly written and maintained code available for R – I know I’ve written my fair share – but the flexibility and adaptability that comes from R being an open source product is it’s best feature. It’s why it will succeed over slower moving more expensive packages. It would be nice not to have to deal with bad programming or unmaintained code, but the alternative is worse.

]]> By: Karl Ove Hufthammer http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/comment-page-1/#comment-16912 Karl Ove Hufthammer Mon, 04 May 2009 08:07:00 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2057#comment-16912 I second the recommendation of the ‘The R Inferno’. It’s a wonderful document, and I have learned so much from it that would have taken years to learn ‘the hard way’. I almost think it should be required reading for every R user. I second the recommendation of the ‘The R Inferno’. It’s a wonderful document, and I have learned so much from it that would have taken years to learn ‘the hard way’. I almost think it should be required reading for every R user.

]]> By: Steve Lianoglou http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/comment-page-1/#comment-16797 Steve Lianoglou Fri, 01 May 2009 19:34:28 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2057#comment-16797 In case you haven't stumbled upon it yet, I think <a href="http://www.burns-stat.com/pages/Tutor/R_inferno.pdf" rel="nofollow">The R Inferno</a> [PDF], is a must read for any R user ... it's both informative and entertaining. With an abstract like "If you are using R and you think you're in hell, this is a map for you", how can you go wrong :-) Patrick Burns also has some other tutorials that are handy that you can get from his site. In case you haven’t stumbled upon it yet, I think The R Inferno [PDF], is a must read for any R user … it’s both informative and entertaining. With an abstract like “If you are using R and you think you’re in hell, this is a map for you”, how can you go wrong :-)

Patrick Burns also has some other tutorials that are handy that you can get from his site.

]]> By: Brendan O'Connor http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/comment-page-1/#comment-16795 Brendan O'Connor Fri, 01 May 2009 19:06:13 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2057#comment-16795 definitely needed. definitely tricky to write. definitely needed. definitely tricky to write.

]]> By: John http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/comment-page-1/#comment-16782 John Fri, 01 May 2009 12:34:35 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2057#comment-16782 Bill, I agree. It's hard to find books that are small because the authors thought hard about what to include and resisted the urge to include everything they know. Here's another good small book: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964981211?ie=UTF8&tag=theende-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0964981211" rel="nofollow">The Essence of SQL</a> Bill, I agree. It’s hard to find books that are small because the authors thought hard about what to include and resisted the urge to include everything they know.

Here’s another good small book: The Essence of SQL

]]> By: Bill the Lizard http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/05/01/r-the-good-parts/comment-page-1/#comment-16781 Bill the Lizard Fri, 01 May 2009 12:28:22 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2057#comment-16781 I was flipping through JavaScript: The Good Parts about a week ago looking for a quote for an answer on Stack Overflow. I caught myself wishing Crockford would write books on Perl, Java, C++, PHP, ... pretty much any language in widespread use. It's a great idea to have someone knowledgeable tell you <i>explicitly</i> what language features to avoid using. So many books try to illustrate every feature of a language in an effort to be the "X Language Bible". I hope more authors embrace Crockford's style. I was flipping through JavaScript: The Good Parts about a week ago looking for a quote for an answer on Stack Overflow. I caught myself wishing Crockford would write books on Perl, Java, C++, PHP, … pretty much any language in widespread use. It’s a great idea to have someone knowledgeable tell you explicitly what language features to avoid using. So many books try to illustrate every feature of a language in an effort to be the “X Language Bible”. I hope more authors embrace Crockford’s style.

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