Best Online R Programming Courses and Programs (2024)

Home
Learn
R Programming

For those pursuing a career in data analysis or statistics, learning R programming may be worthwhile. R makes understanding and using large, complex data sets easier. Explore online courses delivered through edX to help meet your goals.

What is R programming?

R is a language and environment used to mine, organize, manipulate, and display data. It includes a data handling and storage facility, operators for calculations, data analysis tools, and graphical facilities. As a programming language, R has conditionals, loops, user-defined recursive functions, and input and output facilities.^{Footnote 1}

R helps analysts identify patterns within data sets and then develop visualization projects based on the patterns found. Occasionally, the R coding language is also used for general programming. R is open-sourced and freely available on most UNIX platforms, including Linux, Windows, and macOS. It also doesn’t require much storage on any of these platforms. As a result, R is a popular programming language for analysis and statistics.^{Footnote 2}

R was first developed in 1993 by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. R expanded on S, a statistical computing language from Bell Labs. R added lexical scoping to the capabilities of S, and was developed to be portable, versatile, and openly distributable.^{Footnote 3}

The R Foundation is a not-for-profit organization and a core team of developers collaborating to support and maintain R. The team exists to preserve and improve R as open-source software. The graphics, interface, and accessibility of R are used by thousands of people who are learning R programming, elaborating on the R programming language, and improving its functions.^{Footnote 4}

Browse online R programming courses

Explore all courses

Stand out in your field

Use the knowledge and skills you have gained to drive impact at work and grow your career.

Learn at your own pace

On your computer, tablet or phone, online courses make learning flexible to fit your busy life.

Earn a valuable credential

Showcase your key skills and valuable knowledge.

Explore all courses

What is covered in an R programming tutorial?

R programming courses are available for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners. Learners interested in R programming can find various R courses and R language tutorials online, many of which are part of a larger statistics or data science curriculum. These courses take learners through the fundamental programming concepts, analytical skills, and R basics needed to analyze data sets and create graphics with the R programming language.

Some examples of the content covered in an online R course include:^{Footnote 5}

Downloading, installing, and using the R environment
Key objects and object manipulation
Data structures (frames, lists, matrices, etc.)
Manipulating and preprocessing data
Plotting data

If students successfully complete an R language course, some courses may award an R programming certification.

Jobs that use R programming language

Jobs in data analytics and statistics may either require or recommend R coding experience. R experienced faster growth in demand during 2022 than languages like Python, Java, and SQL, according to HackerRank 2023 Developer Skills Report.^{Footnote 6}

R programming jobs could include positions such as: data scientist, machine learning engineer, big data engineer, IT specialist, and database developer. Other R-specific job titles include R programmer, R analytics programmer, and R statistical programmer. Adding R coding language skills to your resume may help you in data specializations requiring mastery of statistical techniques, which can be learned on your own, through a boot camp, or a degree program.

How to become an R programmer online

If you’re interested in becoming an R programmer, it could be beneficial to acquire background knowledge of data science and statistical techniques before pursuing R. Every job is different and each company will have different hiring requirements, but a proven understanding of coding language learning is a basic expectation for most programming jobs. Learners can pursue this in many ways, including through a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in data science, as well as a boot camp in coding or data analytics. Many R programming courses provide R certification so learners can show potential employers their proficiency in R programming.

More opportunities for you to learn

We've added 500+ learning opportunities to create one of the world's most comprehensive free-to-degree online learning platforms.

NewExecutive EducationExpert-led, fully supported courses that build career-critical skills

NewMaster's DegreesOnline degree programs from top universities

NewBachelor's DegreesBegin or complete a degree; fully online

R programming FAQ

Is R programming easy?

R is a good language for beginners, and you don’t need any previous coding experience to start. It does not have the same readable syntax as a language like Python, but the basics of R can be easy to execute. From there, the difficulty of mastering the more complex elements of R will depend on learners’ time, prior experience, and statistical knowledge.

What skills are required for an R programmer?

Basic mathematical and statistical knowledge can help aspiring R programmers learn the language faster. It can also make data reporting and visualization tools easier to grasp.

Where is R most used?

R is a strong statistical analysis and plotting tool that can be used to manage company data, find insights, and report results. It is often used for research and data analysis in industries like finance, healthcare, marketing, and statistics.

What is the difference between R programming and Python?

R programming and Python are both popular languages for data analysis, but R is most often used for statistical analysis, whereas Python is more flexible in its capabilities. Both languages contain libraries and packages for analysis and plotting. However, R is a functional programming language while Python is suitable for object-oriented programming.^{Footnote 7}

What are the basic packages in R programming?

R has many packages for a wide range of use cases, from data wrangling to import. Popular packages include dplyr, purrr, readxl, readr, rio, tidyxl, jsonlite, XML, httr, validate, and stringr.^{Footnote 8}

How can I learn R programming quickly?

Depending on your familiarity with programming languages, learning R could take anywhere between a few weeks and a couple of months. To learn R, you will want to understand basic R syntax, learn how R can be used in data analytics, set up your R environment, and experiment with R projects. You may also want to read R programming books or take an R programming course.

Last updated February 2023

Last updated January 2024

Best Online R Programming Courses and Programs (2024)

FAQs

Can I learn R in 3 months? ›

For learners with programming experience, you can become proficient in R within a couple weeks or less. Brand new programmers may take six weeks to a few months to become comfortable with the R language.

View Details ›

Can you learn R online? ›

Learners interested in R programming can find various R courses and R language tutorials online, many of which are part of a larger statistics or data science curriculum.

Show Me More ›

Is there an official R certification? ›

There are multiple ways to get certified in R Programming. If you're already knowledgeable in R, you could take a certification exam to prove your skills. HackerRank offers two different exams: R (Basic) Skills Certification Test and R (Intermediate) Skills Certification Test.

Tell Me More ›

Which is harder R or Python? ›

Overall, Python's easy-to-read syntax gives it a smoother learning curve. R tends to have a steeper learning curve at the beginning, but once you understand how to use its features, it gets significantly easier. Tip: Once you've learned one programming language, it's typically easier to learn another one.

Know More ›

Is R the hardest programming language? ›

Although R is considered a complex language due to its many commands and inconsistent analysis ways, enrolling in an in-person or live online Data Science class can help overcome the challenges. R is often compared to Python, another data science language.

Discover More ›

What is better R or Python? ›

Python is a general-purpose programming language, while R is a statistical programming language. This means that Python is more versatile and can be used for a wider range of tasks, such as web development, data manipulation, and machine learning.

Find Out More ›

What is the fastest way to learn R? ›

One of the most effective ways to get started learning R is to start using it. RStudio.cloud Primers offer a cloud-based learning environment that will teach you the basics of R all from the comfort of your browser.

Tell Me More ›

Why learning R becomes tough? ›

The most difficult time people have learning R is when functions don't do the “obvious” thing. For example when sorting data, SAS, SPSS and Stata all use commands appropriately named “sort.” Turning to R, they look for such a command and, sure enough, there is one named exactly that.

Learn More ›

Is it worth paying for codecademy? ›

Codecademy Pro is a big upgrade from the free version. The free level is fine if you want to learn the basics of one of the languages offered, or simply take some fun first steps with coding. But I'd recommend you go Pro if you're: looking to get to intermediate or advanced level.

Is it worth learning both R and Python? ›

However, Python is generally considered to have more diverse applications beyond data science and analytics, and is therefore more widely used across industries. Many companies use both Python and R depending on their needs, so learning both languages can be beneficial.

Show Me More ›

Is it good to learn R and Python at the same time? ›

While there are many languages and disciplines to choose from, some of the most popular are R and Python. It's totally fine to learn both at the same time! Generally speaking, Python is more versatile: it was developed as a general-purpose programming language and has evolved to be great for data science.

Where is the best place to learn R programming? ›

Best Free Introductory Course for R and RStudio (Harvard) If you're learning R, you are most probably learning it to deal with data. Fortunately, Harvard University's Data Science: R Basics will teach you the basics of analyzing, visualizing, and working with data using R.

Read On ›

How much does R programming cost? ›

R is an open-source programming language that is free to download and use. This scripted language provides users with a variety of analytical and mathematical methods, as well as statistical graphing capabilities. R is considered unique because it's not a general-purpose language.

Where can I learn R programming for free? ›

This free Introduction to R course offered by Great Learning Academy is for beginners who want to learn the R programming language. This course helps you understand the R language basics, which will further help you understand its advanced topics better.

Read On ›

Is R or Python more useful? ›

This means that Python is more versatile and can be used for a wider range of tasks, such as web development, data manipulation, and machine learning. R, on the other hand, is primarily used for statistical analysis and data visualization.