Chapter 4
Installing an R Distribution
IN THIS CHAPTER
Determining which R distribution to use
Performing an R installation on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
Obtaining and installing the source code and datasets for this book
This book relies on two languages to demonstrate machine learning. Of course, many other languages are available to use, but these two languages, R and Python, provide the best resources and capabilities for studying and working with machine learning examples. In addition, industry uses these two languages the most as well. The first section of this chapter discusses some of the R distributions you might consider using to meet specific machine learning needs. The chapter also helps you understand why the book uses the particular R distribution that it does.
In addition, you find out how to install R on your system in this chapter (assuming that you use Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows as a platform).
The next chapter gives you some basic information on how R works to make following the examples easier. This book can’t provide you with a full-fledged R tutorial (another whole book would be needed to perform that task), so the next chapter is more of an overview designed to help you get started quickly.
Chapters 6 and 7 help you install and obtain an overview of Python. You need both languages to complete all the examples in the book because the examples rely on ...
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