Event Phone: 1-610-715-0115

Cancellation Policy: If you cancel your registration at least two weeks before the course is scheduled to begin, you are entitled to a full refund (minus a processing fee of $50).

In the unlikely event that Statistical Horizons LLC must cancel a seminar, we will do our best to inform you as soon as possible of the cancellation. You would then have the option of receiving a full refund of the seminar fee or a credit towards another seminar. In no event shall Statistical Horizons LLC be liable for any incidental or consequential damages that you may incur because of the cancellation.

An 8-Hour Livestream Seminar Taught by Vincent Arel-Bundock, Ph.D.

Writing R packages is the perfect way to level up your programming skills while unlocking many benefits. Doing so can enhance your productivity by reducing the need to rewrite similar code over and over. R packages improve the portability, replicability, and accessibility of your work, which can streamline collaborations between you, your team members, and the broader data analysis community. Packaging code can make it more reliable by encouraging the adoption of software development best practices, such as tests, assertions, and documentation. Finally, sharing your work in a professionally packaged format can significantly boost your credibility and visibility, within your organization and beyond.

“My First R Package” is a two-day course designed to guide you through the creation of your very own R package. You will learn the software development skills needed to create brand-new packages or to improve existing ones. The course covers all the essentials: how to organize code efficiently, manage dependencies, and how to write tests, assertions, and documentation. We will also briefly outline the steps required to distribute your package on GitHub, CRAN, and a dedicated website.

Throughout the course, practical exercises will allow you to apply what you’ve learned by developing a simple R package step by step. You will gain hands-on experience in using tools like devtools and usethis for package creation, roxygen2 for documentation, testthat for testing, and checkmate to make your functions more robust. These activities are designed to reinforce theoretical concepts by putting them in practice, enhancing your learning experience and providing you with the confidence to work on your own projects.

By the end of this course, you will be fully equipped to create and maintain an R package, preparing you to contribute effectively to the R community or any data-driven projects you undertake in your organization. This course aims to empower you with the knowledge and skills to elevate your programming expertise in R.

By the end of this course, you’ll have a solid foundation in R package development, enabling you to structure, document, and distribute your R software like a professional. This skill set will not only streamline your code development process but also enhance its reproducibility and utility, making your projects more impactful and widely accessible. With a good understanding of package anatomy, defensive programming, and effective testing practices, you’ll be ready to tackle R development challenges with assurance.

The course content includes:

• Learning the structure and components of an R package.
• Organizing your code efficiently.
• Implementing software development best practices with unit tests and assertions.
• Documenting the package to make it more understandable and useable.
• Checklists of steps to distribute your package on GitHub, CRAN, and on a dedicated website.

You will also be introduced to several essential R packages and tools, including:

• devtools: https://devtools.r-lib.org
• pkgload: https://pkgload.r-lib.org
• usethis: https://usethis.r-lib.org
• roxygen2: https://roxygen2.r-lib.org
• testthat: https://testthat.r-lib.org
• checkmate: https://mllg.github.io/checkmate
• altdoc: https://altdoc.etiennebacher.com

These resources are crucial for any R developer looking to professionalize their package development workflow and are integral to the practices taught in this course.