3  R Basics

3.1 Learning objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• use R for simple calculations;
• create and name objects with <- and recognize other assignment symbols;
• combine values with c();
• use a small set of mathematical functions;
• recognize the main types of data used in this book;
• create a small tibble; and
• explain what a pipe does.

3.2 From setup to coding

The previous chapter introduced RStudio, Projects, and R Markdown. We will now learn the small pieces of R code that appear in every later chapter. Try each example in a code chunk and look at the result before moving on. The examples in this chapter are deliberately small and familiar. We will introduce the course’s main dataset in the Data Import chapter.

Continue in the same project

Open djr.Rproj and create a new R Markdown document named 01-r-basics.Rmd. Save it beside 00-setup.Rmd. Keep using the same data and outputs folders for the rest of the book.

3.3 Use R as a calculator

R understands ordinary arithmetic:

25 + 10

[1] 35

50 / 4

[1] 12.5

(25 + 35) / 2

[1] 30

Parentheses work as they do in a calculator: R evaluates what is inside them first.

3.4 Create an object

An object is a name that stores a value. Use <- to assign a value:

x <- 10
x

[1] 10

Read the first line as “x gets 10.” R stores the value but does not print it until you type the object’s name.

Begin with short names that describe the value:

score <- 85
test_score <- 90

When a name needs more than one word, use snake_case, with lowercase words separated by underscores. For example, test_score is easier to read than testscore. R is case-sensitive, so score and Score would be different objects.

You may see three assignment styles in R code:

Code	Meaning	Use in this book
x <- 10	Assign 10 to x from the left	Preferred
10 -> x	Assign 10 to x from the right	Valid, but uncommon
x = 10	Assign 10 to x using an equals sign	Valid in many situations, but not used for object assignment here

We use <- because the object name appears first and because it clearly marks an assignment. The equals sign has another job you will see later: it names an option inside a function, written as option = value. Keeping <- for objects and = for named options makes code easier to read. Later, we will use == to ask whether two values are equal; = and == do not mean the same thing.

Assignment shortcut

Use Alt + - on Windows or Option + - on Mac to insert <-.

3.5 Add comments

R ignores text after #. Comments are notes for yourself or another reader. They can explain what a value means or why a step is needed.

# Age at the beginning of the course
age <- 20

Good comments explain a decision. There is little value in writing # calculate the mean immediately above mean(numbers) because the code already says that.

3.6 Combine values into a vector

c() combines several values of the same kind into a vector:

numbers <- c(2, 4, 6, 8)

numbers

[1] 2 4 6 8

R can perform the same calculation on every value in a numeric vector:

numbers / 2

[1] 1 2 3 4

3.7 Use mathematical functions

A function is a named instruction that performs a task. Its name is followed by parentheses containing the information it needs. R provides simple functions for common calculations:

sum(numbers)

[1] 20

mean(numbers)

[1] 5

min(numbers)

[1] 2

max(numbers)

[1] 8

Function	Calculation
sum()	Adds the values
mean()	Calculates the average
min()	Finds the smallest value
max()	Finds the largest value

The object numbers is the input, or argument, given to each function.

In this book, we begin with the arguments needed for the task. Many functions have additional optional arguments. You can open a function’s help page later by typing its name after ?, such as ?mean.

3.8 Recognize common data types

Four types appear frequently in journalism data:

Type shown by R	Meaning	Example
<dbl> or <int>	Numbers	10, 3.5
<chr>	Character, or text	"Alex"
<lgl>	Logical values	TRUE, FALSE
<date>	Calendar dates	2025-01-01

Text needs quotation marks. Logical values TRUE and FALSE do not. Missing information is normally represented by NA, not by zero.

3.9 Create a tibble

A data table has variables in columns and observations in rows. The tidyverse uses a modern data frame called a tibble.

First load the tidyverse, then create a small table:

library(tidyverse)

students <- tibble(
  name = c("Ana", "Ben", "Chen"),
  age = c(20, 21, 22),
  present = c(TRUE, FALSE, TRUE)
)

students

One row represents one student. The three columns contain each student’s name, age, and attendance.

What does “tidy” mean?

Tidy data are organized in a consistent way:

• each variable has its own column;
• each observation has its own row; and
• each value has its own cell.

In students, name, age, and present are variables, so each has a column. Each student is one observation, so each student has one row.

“Tidy” describes the arrangement of a table; it is not another file type. A tibble can contain tidy or untidy data. We will learn how to make untidy tables tidy in the Combine and Reshape chapter.

Learn more about tidy data

The official tidyr introduction to tidy data provides more examples. The three rules above are enough for now.

3.10 Use pipes

A pipe passes the result on its left to the function on its right. Modern R has a built-in pipe written as |>:

numbers |>
  sum()

[1] 20

Read this as “start with numbers, then calculate the sum.” This produces the same result as sum(numbers).

You may also see an older pipe written as %>% in R tutorials and existing projects:

numbers %>%
  sum()

[1] 20

For a simple example like this, both pipes do the same job. The main difference for beginners is where they come from:

Pipe	Where it comes from	Use in this book
|>	Built into R	Used throughout the book
%>%	Available after loading the tidyverse	Shown here so you can recognize older code

Pipes become especially useful when several steps are connected. We will use |> consistently in the later chapters.

3.11 Useful habits when learning R

• Copy, paste, and tweak: start from a working example, change one part, and run it again.
• Save frequently: keep the code that produced an important number or chart.
• Read errors from the bottom: the final line often names the immediate problem.
• Check spelling and capitalization: small differences create different object and column names.
• Ask for help with evidence: include the code, the error, and what you expected to happen.

More detailed debugging guidance is available in the Debugging appendix.

3.12 Practice

Create a tibble called books with three rows and these columns:

• title, containing three book titles;
• pages, containing the number of pages in each book; and
• finished, containing TRUE or FALSE.

Print the tibble. Then write one sentence describing what one row represents.

3.13 Takeaways

Function or symbol	What it does
<-	Assigns a value to an object name
->	Assigns in the opposite direction; valid but uncommon
=	Can assign a value, but is reserved here for named function arguments
#	Adds a comment that R does not run
c()	Combines values into a vector
sum()	Calculates a total
mean()	Calculates an average
min()	Finds the smallest value
max()	Finds the largest value
tibble()	Creates a tidyverse data table
|>	Passes an object to the next function
%>%	An older tidyverse pipe that appears in existing R code

Want more control?

The official tibble() reference and tidyverse pipe guide provide more examples. The simple forms in this chapter are enough for the next lessons.