In a recent post, I asked for suggestions for introductory R computing books. In particular, I was looking for books that:

• Assume no prior knowledge of programming.
• Assume very little knowledge of statistics. For example, no regression.
• Are cheap, since they are for undergraduate students.

Some of my cons aren’t really downsides as such. Rather, they just indicate that the books aren’t suitable for this particular audience. A prime example is “R in a Nutshell”.

I ended up recommending five books to the first year introductory R class.

Recommended Books

• A first course in statistical programming with R (Braun & Murdoch)
  • Pros: I quite like this book (hence the reason I put it on my list). It has a nice collection of exercises, it “looks nice” and doesn’t assume knowledge of programming. It also doesn’t assume (or try to teach) any statistics.
  • Cons: When describing for loops and functions the examples aren’t very statistical. For example, it uses Fibonacci sequences in the while loop section and the sieve of Eratosthenes for if statements.
• An introduction to R (Venables & Smith)
  • Pros: Simple, short and to the point. Free copies available. Money from the book goes to the R project.
  • Cons: More a R reference guide than a textbook.
• A Beginner´s Guide to R by Zuur.
  • Pros: Assumes not prior knowledge. Proceeds through concepts slowly and carefully.
  • Cons: Proceeds through concepts very slowly and carefully.
• R in a Nutshell by Adler.
  • I completely agree with a recent review by Robin Wilson: “Very comprehensive and very useful, but not good for a beginner. Great book though – definitely has a place on my bookshelf.”
  • Pros: An excellent reference.
  • Cons: Only suitable for students with a previous computer background.
• Introduction to Scientific Programming and Simulation Using R by Jones, Maillardet and Robinson.
  • Pros: A nice book that teaches R programming. Similar to the Braun & Murdoch book.
  • Cons: A bit pricey in comparison to the other books

Books not being recommended

These books were mentioned in the comments of the previous post.

• The Basics of S-PLUS by Krause & Olson.
  • Most students struggle with R. Introducing a similar, but slightly different language is too sadistic.
• Software for Data Analysis: Programming with R by Chambers.
  • Assumed some previous statistical knowledge.
• Bayesian Computation with R by Albert.
  • Not suitable for first year students who haven’t taken any previous statistics courses.
• R Graphics by Paul Murrell
  • I know graphics are important, but a whole book for an undergraduate student might be too much. I did toy with the idea of recommending this book, but I thought that five recommendations were more than sufficient.
• ggplot2 by Hadley Wickham.
  • Great book, but our students don’t encounter ggplot2 in their undergraduate course.

Online Resources

• Introduction to Probability and Statistics by Kerns
  • Suitable for a combined R and statistics course. But I don’t really do much stats in this module.
• The R Programming wikibook (a work in progress).
  • Will give the students this link.
• Biological Data Analysis Using R by Rodney J. Dyer. Available under the CC license.
  • Nice resource. Possibly a little big for this course (I know that this is very picky, but I had to draw the line somewhere). Will probably use it for future courses.
• Hadley Wickham’s devtools wiki (a work in progress).
  • Assumes a good working knowledge of R
• The R Inferno by Patrick Burns
  • Good book, but too advanced for students who have never programmed before.
• Introduction to S programming
  • It’s in french – this may or may not be a good thing depending on your point of view