R is the name of both:
RStudio is a user-friendly interface around R that makes the programming experience much nicer. It bundles together
The programming language R comes with built-in functionality, like
computing the square root with the sqrt()
function. Over
the years, R users have created lots of additional functionalities that
is available on demand. If you particular application requires extra
functionality not available with the basic R installation, you can add
it by installing packages. A package is an additional bit of
functionality and it needs to be installed only once to bring it from
the web to your own R installation. However, it is also important to
keep packages updated once or twice a year.
This document explains how to
If you have a previous R installation, please uninstall the following software from your PC if you have it:
If you have a previous R installation, please go to the Applications folder in your Finder window and move the following applications to the Bin:
Check which Apple PC you have. On the top-left of your screen click the Apple logo, click About This Mac, note what the Processor line says. If it has the word “Intel”, you want to follow 2 below, and 1 otherwise.
Go to https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/ and download one of these:
R-4.4.0-arm64.pkg
if you have an Apple silicon arm64
macOS PC.R-4.4.0-x86_64.pkg
if you have an Intel-based macOS
PCOpen the installer and follow the instructions while keeping the default options.
You cannot install R on Chromebooks. Go directly to the Installing RStudio section for instructions.
If you have a previous RStudio installation, please uninstall it before proceeding.
Go to https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/, scroll down to Step 2, and follow the download instructions.
Open the installer and follow the instructions while keeping the default options.
If you have a previous RStudio installation, please uninstall it before proceeding.
Go to https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/, scroll down to Step 2, and follow the download instructions.
Open the installer and follow the instructions while keeping the default options.
First try these steps:
Log in to EASE using your university UUN and password
Set your RStudio password here, the username will be the same as your UUN (make sure you type your UUN correctly!)
Access the server from https://rstudio.ppls.ed.ac.uk using your university UUN and the password you set above in (2).
If that didn’t work:
Please fill out this form and wait for an email from us with instructions.
If your R version or packages are old, you might get errors or find that the code required to run some examples is different from the one provided.
Recall that R is the underlying programming language, while RStudio is just a wrapper around R providing a nicer user interface (text editor, file explorer and graphical window). Updating RStudio (the interface) will not update the R programming language which runs your code.
Check that your R version is up-to-date by typing into the R console:
version
After pressing Enter, you should see something like this:
platform << this will be different for each of you >>
arch << this will be different for each of you >>
os << this will be different for each of you >>
system << this will be different for each of you >>
status
major 4
minor 4.0
<< and more lines which you can ignore... >>
Please check here: https://www.r-project.org/ to see what the most recent version is. If you have a different number for “major” than the most recent, it may well be time for an update.
Open RStudio, and type the following in the R console. Press Enter to run the code.
To update R, you need to remove any old R installations and reinstall R. Follow the instructions from section A.1.
You cannot install or update R on your Chromebook. You need to access R via the RStudio Server provided by our school, and the updates are managed by the school, you don’t need to do anything.
You still may want to update packages, though. Check section C for that.
Check if you need to update RStudio by clicking Help and then Check for updates.
If an update is available, follow the instructions from section A.2.
Open RStudio. In the R console, type the following and press Enter:
Department of Psychology
The University of Edinburgh