Chapter 20
Ten Tips on Working with Packages
In This Chapter
Finding packages
Installing and updating packages
Loading and unloading packages
One of the very attractive features of R is that it contains a large collection of third-party packages (collections of functions in a well-defined format). To get the most out of R, you need to understand where to find additional packages, how to download and install them, and how to use them.
In this chapter, we consolidate some of the things we cover earlier in the book and give you ten tips on working with packages.
Many other software languages have concepts that are similar to R packages. Sometimes these are referred to as “libraries.” However, in R, a library is the folder on your hard disk (or USB stick, network, DVD, or whatever you use for permanent storage) where your packages are stored.
Poking Around the Nooks and Crannies of CRAN
The Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN; http://cran.r-project.org) is a network of web servers around the world where you can find the R source code, R manuals and documentation, and contributed ...
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