R is a free software programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. The R language is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statistical software and data analysis. Polls and surveys of data miners are showing R's popularity has increased substantially in recent years.

This short course is designed to:

• serve as an introduction to the R language and it's uses
• teach you the basics of R's syntax
• provide an overview of how to implement some rudimentary statistical techniques and compute basic statistics
• showcase some of R's graphical capabilities
• have some fun in the THE STAR LAB

We will not cover all the things you will eventually need to know about programming in R. This course is merely meant to provide you with a basic understanding of how R works and how to get started. There are no prerequisites and I assume no prior programming knowledge. You should be able to use a mouse and a keyboard. If you feel underwhelmed, please be courteous to your colleagues. If you are overwhelmed, immediately let me know. With any luck, however, you will be able to throw away that old TI-81 at the end of this tutorial.