You are currently viewing Bye RStudio, Hello Posit!
#posit #rstudio #datascience #python

Bye RStudio, Hello Posit!

Is R becoming a “dead language”?

From https://www.r-bloggers.com/2022/08/why-posit-means-growth-for-the-r-community/

RStudio is becoming Posit in October 2022 turning away from its R-exclusive focus and diving into a broader ecosystem.

They aim to build Posit as a single place for R and Python.

This change applies to its products, such as:

  • RStudio Connect = Posit Connect
  • RStudio Package Manager = Posit Package Manager
  • RStudio Workbench = Posit Workbench

So this means RStudio is just dead, right?

Hadley Wickham, RStudio’s chief scientist said “we’re not pivoting from R to Python” and added; “I’m not going to learn Python.”

So, contrary to some social media gossip, it looks like the company will stay on its track, managing its R backbone.

R is not better or worse than Python. Both are different languages targeting an overlaping audience (even though not necessarily identical), meaning those interested in data science, data analytics, and statistics (and yes, this includes clinical researchers like me).

https://www.rstudio.com/blog/rstudio-is-becoming-posit/

In fact, contrary to the popular belief that “Python is replacing R”, Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate training is mainly based on R.

The 4 principles behind this change

According to RStudio/Posit, this change has 4 goals:

1 — A broader focus

They aim to create open-source and commercial software for R, Python, and beyond;

2 — A larger community

Now mingling the R community with the Python community.

3 — A commitment to open source

Their team chose to integrate two open-source software into one platform.

What does Posit mean?

Posit is a verb meaning “to put forward for consideration or the basis of argument”.

For example, “I think, therefore I am” (from Descartes). In this quote “I think” is the posit of the statement. Posit (the company) seems to consider this change a “starting point” for a brighter future.

To sum up

It looks like for R user thing won’t change that much.

W elook forward to a more versatile platform that allows you to write both Python and R (even though you can already do this on Jupyter notebooks and Kaggle).

For the Medium story https://medium.com/evidentebm/bye-rstudio-hello-posit-f1d0a4213188

Tags: , , , ,