R Beginner Tutorial – Basic Syntax

This is part 2 of our R Beginner Tutorial. For part 1, head over to R Beginner tutorial.

Let’s look at basic syntax in R. We’ll learn how to use basic operators, functions, comments, R files and packages.

Arithmetic operators

R knows the following arithmetic operators.

For example:

> x=10
> y=2

> x+y
[1] 12

> x-y
[1] 8

> x*2
[1] 20

> x/y
[1] 5

> x^y
[1] 100

> x**y
[1] 100

> x%%y
[1] 0

Relational operators

Similarly, we can use the following relational operators.

For example:

> x=10
> y=2

> x<y
[1] FALSE

> x>y
[1] TRUE

> x<=y
[1] FALSE

> x>=y
[1] TRUE

> x==y
[1] FALSE

> x!=y
[1] TRUE

Comments

Comments start with # symbol. For example:

#This is a comment

Print

Printing is done by simply using the print() function.

> x = "I love R!"
> print(x)
[1] "I love R!"

R beginner tutorial

Math functions

There of course is an abundance of available math functions. Few examples are listed in the table below.

Paths and files

We use getwd() function to get a location of a working directory.

> getwd()

\\\\192.168.30.6/Home/gasperk/My Documents"

We use setwd() function to set the location of working directory.

> setwd("C:/Users/gasperk")

We use list.files() function to lčist all the files in a directory.

> list.files()
  [1] "AppData"                                                                                     
  [2] "Application Data"                                                                            
  [3] "ChannelData.xlsx"                                                                            
  [4] "Contacts"                                                                                    
  [5] "Cookies"                                                                                     
  [6] "Desktop"  
…

Help

We can find help for any function by typing help(function_name). For example, help for log function:

> help(log)

In conclusion, this sums up all the R syntax basics. Tune in next week to discuss data structures!

In a hurry?

If you’re already running late, we recommend you head over to our two R crash courses:

• R Language overview, fast and easy beginner tutorial on R
• ggplot2 Basics, fast and easy beginner tutorial on plotting data in R

For even more amazing tips check out our awesome ExcelOlympics YouTube channel!