Among the various programming languages available in the market, the R programming language has made its own reputation among developers. As described by its official website, R is a programming language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. It provides a wide variety of statistical techniques like linear and non-linear modeling, time-series analysis, classical statistical tests, and clustering. R is highly extensible, and developers can use it to produce well-designed publication-quality plots quite easily. The language includes an effective data handling and storage facility along with a large integrated collection of intermediate tools for data analysis.
Though R language can be used for multiple applications, it has gained a lot of attention lately due to its use in data science. R has an extensive library of tools for database manipulation and wranglings like dplyr, data. table, and reader package. Packages like ggplot2 and credit are used in analyzing data, visualizing and representing it. Moreover, the language is specifically designed for statistical analysis and data reconfiguration. All these features make R the top choice for organizations working on data science projects.
If you too are stepping into the vast world of data science, learning R will make you more employable. Those who don’t have prior knowledge of the field are finding an online R language course quite feasible to understand the basics of R. Nevertheless, finding a reliable training program from a pool of resources available over the internet may be a difficult task. So, this article makes you aware of the top R training programs that professionals prefer taking.
Let’s get started!
Top Online Resources to Learn R
To help you differentiate among the available choices, we have divided the course information into the name of the training provider, description, what’s in store for you, and the top skills covered.
Data Science with R Certification Course
Offered by – Simplilearn
This online program is dedicated to professionals who wish to become an expert in data analytics using the R programming language. It will help you learn data exploration, predictive analytics, data visualization, and descriptive analytics techniques using R. Further, you’ll get a clear understanding of R packages, data structures in R, statistical concepts, forecasting, and importing and exporting data in R.
What you get:
- Access to 64 hours of applied learning
- Dedicated mentoring sessions from subject matter experts
- 10 real-world industry projects
- Lifetime access to self-paced course material
https://www.youtube.com/embed/KlsYCECWEWE
Skills covered – R programming and its packages, business analytics, hypothesis testing, apriori algorithm, apply functions and DYPLR function, data structures.
Programming for Data Science with R Nanodegree Program
Offered by – Udacity
This comprehensive program by Udacity prepares you for a career in data science by helping you learn the fundamental data programming tools like R, SQL, Git, and command line. The course duration is 3 months and you need to spend 10 hours per week to complete it. The syllabus is divided into three sections – Introduction to SQL, Introduction to R programming, and Introduction to Version Control.
What you get:
- Real-world projects from industry experts
- Technical mentor support
- Resume support, GitHub portfolio review
- Project feedback from experienced reviewers
Skills covered – SQL fundamentals like Joins, Aggregations, and Subqueries; R programming basics like data structures, variables, loops, and functions; using version control.
Statistics and R Program
Offered by – Harvard University on EdX
Get introduced to the basic statistical concepts and R programming language with this course by the prestigious Harvard University. It teaches you the basics of statistical inference to understand and compute p-values and confidence intervals, all while analyzing data with R code. It also covers advanced statistical concepts and software engineering skills like parallel computing and reproducible research concepts.
What you get:
- Four weeks of in-depth learning
- Instruction from highly-qualified Harvard faculty
- An instructor-signed certificate with the institution’s logo to verify your achievement and increase your job prospects
Skills covered – Random variables, Distributions, Inference: p-values and confidence intervals, Exploratory Data Analysis, Non-parametric statistics.
R Programming A-Z™: R For Data Science With Real Exercises!
Offered by – Udemy
Take this R programming course by Udemy if you are interested in learning all the R programming fundamentals – R Studio, creating variables, vectors, using functions, creating loops, and installing packages in R. With 10.5 hours of on-demand video, you’ll be able to understand how to build your first matrix, filtering a data frame, advanced visualization with GGPlot2 and more.
What you get:
- 8 sections with a total of 82 lectures
- 6 articles for better understanding
- Real-life analytical challenges
Skills covered – using R Studio, matrix function, Law of Large Numbers, Normal distribution, working with financial data in R, statistical data in R, customizing R studio.
Master R for Data Science
Offered by – LinkedIn Learning
This program by LinkedIn Learning incorporates 20 hours of comprehensive content that teaches you how R works, using R with Excel and Tableau, and the applied use of R in social network analysis. The entire syllabus is divided into 9 courses which you can complete at your own pace.
What you get:
- Video modules with concepts explained by world-class trainers
- Free one-month trial
- Digital badge of course completion
Skills covered – RStudio for data modeling, R programming challenges, data wrangling in R, creating visualizations with R, social network analysis with R, integrating Tableau and R for Data Science, and performing logistic regression in R and Excel.
Bottom Line
Whether you are a statistician, machine learning engineer, data analyst, or data scientist, you are expected to be well-versed in using the R language. It can also improve your earning potential. For example, a data scientist with R skills is capable of earning an average base pay of USD 90K in the US, as per Payscale. A certification achieved after completing an R training program further increases your credibility and there is no reason why you wouldn’t be able to command even higher paychecks. So make a wise decision of learning R today and take your data science career to new heights.
