Before Day 1: Getting Set Up for R Lab

Everything you need to install before our first class

Author
Affiliation

Julianne Clina, PhD

University of Kansas Medical Center

Published

June 5, 2026

1 Install R

R is the statistical programming language we’ll use throughout this course. You need to install it first before installing RStudio or Positron.

  1. Go to https://cran.r-project.org
  2. Click Download R for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
  3. Follow the installer instructions
  4. Open the R application once to confirm it installed correctly, you should see the R console
Tip

Which version? Always download the latest release. As of this writing that is R 4.5.3.

2 Development Environment

You’ll want an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to write and run your R code comfortably. We recommend Positron, though RStudio is a perfectly fine alternative.

2.1 Option A: Positron (Preferred)

Positron is a next-generation data science IDE built by Posit (the same team behind RStudio). It’s built on VS Code and offers a modern, flexible environment for R and Python.

  1. Go to https://github.com/posit-co/positron/releases
  2. Download the latest release for your operating system
  3. Install and open Positron
  4. Open a new R file and run 1 + 1 to confirm R is connected
Important

Why Positron? Positron has a cleaner interface, better multi-language support, and is the direction the R ecosystem is heading. We’ll be using it in class demos.

2.2 Option B: RStudio

RStudio is the classic, battle-tested R IDE and is a great choice if you prefer something more established.

  1. Go to https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/
  2. Scroll down and download the free RStudio Desktop version for your OS
  3. Install and open RStudio
  4. In the Console pane, type 1 + 1 and press Enter to confirm R is working
Tip

Either IDE will work fine for this course. Just pick one and stick with it!

3 Create a GitHub Account

We’ll use GitHub to share code, submit assignments, and practice version control.

  1. Go to https://github.com
  2. Click Sign up and create a free account
  3. Choose a username
  4. Verify your email address

4 Install GitHub Desktop

GitHub Desktop gives you a visual interface for working with Git and GitHub.

  1. Go to https://desktop.github.com
  2. Download and install GitHub Desktop for your OS
  3. Open GitHub Desktop and sign in with your GitHub account
  4. You’re all set — we’ll walk through using it together in class

5 Course Textbooks

We’ll draw from two excellent, freely available online books throughout this course. Bookmark both now.

5.1 R for Data Science (2nd Edition)

Hadley Wickham, Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel & Garrett Grolemund

The go-to introduction to doing data science in R using the tidyverse. Covers data import, tidying, visualization, and more.

https://r4ds.hadley.nz

5.2 Advanced R (2nd Edition)

Hadley Wickham

A deeper dive into how R works under the hood, functions, environments, object-oriented programming, and performance. We’ll reference this later in the course.

https://adv-r.hadley.nz

6 Helpful Resources

Not sure where to begin with Git or R? These beginner-friendly resources will help you feel more comfortable before we dive in.

6.1 GitHub: Cloning a Repository

Once you have GitHub Desktop set up, one of the first things you’ll do is clone a repository (that means downloading a copy of a project from GitHub to your computer). The official GitHub docs walk you through exactly how to do this:

Cloning a repository — GitHub Docs

6.2 Beginner Video Tutorials

Sometimes it’s easier to watch someone do it first. Here are a few videos to get you oriented:

Git and GitHub for Beginners. A great overview of Git concepts and how to use GitHub, covers the core ideas you’ll need for this course.

Learn R in 39 Minutes Video. A great overview of downloading and using R.

R Programming for Beginners. A beginner, follow-along lesson great for learning basics!

7 Quick Checklist

Before our first class, make sure you have:

See you on Day 1!