R Basics

Interactive beginner R tutorial: use R as a calculator, store values in variables, call functions and write comments β€” running real R in your browser.

Welcome to R. Everything below is a live R console β€” edit the code and press Run Code. Nothing to install.

Watch: R basics in 2 minutes

See every step below run in a live RStudio session β€” R as a calculator, variables, functions and comments β€” then try each one yourself in the consoles that follow.

Download the R script  Β·  β–Ά Practice in the playground β€” or edit and run each snippet below.

R is a calculator

Run this, then change the numbers and run it again:

R evaluates each line and prints the result. ^ is β€œto the power of”.

Store values in variables

Use <- (type it as < then -) to save a value under a name:

Now price and quantity hold values you can reuse. Try adding a discount variable and subtracting it.

Call functions

A function does something to its input, written as name(input):

round(x, 2) rounds to 2 decimals β€” the parts inside the brackets are called arguments.

Comments

Anything after # is a comment β€” R ignores it. Use comments to explain your code:

Your turn

Change the radius above, or compute something new here:

Next: Vectors β†’ β€” how R stores and works with many values at once.