R Basic FAQs
Question: How to start (Run) R Language in Windows Operating System?
Answer: In Microsoft Windows, during installation, the R installer will have created a Start menu item and an icon for R on your system’s desktop. Double click R icon from desktop or from the start menu list to Run R program. For Windows 7, 8 or 10, you can use a search term like “R x64 3.2.1” (64-bit version) or “R i386 3.2.1” (32-bit version). R GUI will launch.
Question: How R can be used as a calculator?
Answer: Starting R will open the console where the user can type commands. To use R as calculator one has to enter the arithmetical expression after > prompt. For example
> 5 + 4
> sqrt(37)
> 2*4^2+17*4-3
Question: How to Quit R session?
Answer: In R console on R command prompt just type
> q( )
Question: What is q()?
Answer: The q() is a function that is used to tell R to quit. When q() is entered in R console and press Enter key, you will be asked whether to save an image of the current workspace or not or to cancel. Note that only typing q tells R to show the content of this function. The action of this function is to quit R.
Question: What is workspace in R?
Answer: The workspace in R is an image that contains a record of the computations one have done and it may contain some saved results.
Question: How to record work in R?
Answer: Rather than saving the workspace, one can record all the commands that one have entered in R console. Recording work in R, the R workspace can be reproduced. The easiest way is to enter the commands in R’s script editor available in the File menu of R GUI.
Question: What is R Script Editor?
Answer: R script editor is a place where one can enter commands. Commands can be executed by highlighting them and hitting CTRL+R (mean RUN). At the end of an R session, one can save the final script for a permanent record of one’s work. A text editor such as Notepad can also be used for this purpose.
Note that in R console only one command can be entered at a time because after pressing Enter key the R command executed immediately.
