What is R?
R is an integrated suite of software facilities for data manipulation, calculation and graphical display. Among other things, it has the capacity to do spatial analysis and create basics maps very quickly. R is command-line driven where multiple "packages" (such as; tmap, leaflet, ggplot2) can be installed and used to create maps and analyze geospatial data.
Below is an example of leaflet package in Rstudio.
Getting started
First, you need to install R on your computer as a programming language, just like Python. The CRAN (Comprehensive R Archive Network) is good place to start for manuals, downloads and general information on R. Download links are provided at the top of the CRAN page. One advantage of using this powerful open source software is that it can be run on Windows, Linux or Mac.
Secondly, once R is installed, you will require an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to write and execute R code. We recommend using RStudio Desktop; it can be downloaded for free here.
