Programming
What is R programming language?
Oct 28, 2025
4-5 min Reading time
R is a statistical computing and graphics system. It consists of two parts: the R language (which is what people usually mean when they say “R”) and the run-time environment. Unlike general-purpose programming languages like Python and Java, R is a domain-specific language. The purpose and initial creation of R is “data science” (including data analysis). Its capabilities go beyond data querying, data processing, analysis, statistical modeling, and visualization related to data analytics. These capabilities even include creating web and mobile applications (Dashboards) and creating chatbots in social networks.
A brief history of the R language
The R language was first announced to the public in 1993 through the StatLib data archive and the s-news mailing list. In 1995, statistician Martin Mächler convinced the authors of the R language to make the language open source and free for use. That same year, Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman published a landmark scientific paper officially introducing R. In 1997, the R Core Team was formed. This group was the only team with permission to write to the source code of the language and reviewed and implemented changes made to R. That same year, the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) was launched. This archive collected open-source software packages for the R language, making it easier to use in various professional fields. In 2000, the first stable version of the R language, 1.0.0, was released to the public. Three years later, in 2003, the R Foundation was founded. This organization aims to protect the copyright of the R software and support the development of the language. In 2004, R version 2.0.0 was released, followed by the establishment of the R Journal, an open-access journal for statistical computing and research, in 2009. R version 3.0.0 was released in 2013, and version 4.0.0 in 2020. Finally, as of June 2023, the latest version of R is 4.3.1, and development continues.
The Rise of Data Science
Since the end of the 20th century, as the world has transitioned from analog systems to digital technologies, the value of data has increased rapidly. Companies operating in various industries must have a large database to understand their customers more deeply in order to maintain a competitive advantage. The large volumes of data collected create great opportunities for in-depth analysis and strategic decision-making. However, to fully utilize this potential, powerful analytical tools are needed. One of the widely used programs in this field is the R language. In addition, Python, SQL, Power BI, Tableau and other platforms are also considered important tools for data science and analytics. The main role of data analysts is to uncover the values hidden in the data, analyze and interpret them correctly.
In today's world, the importance of data analytics is growing, and the demand for professionals who can read and analyze data is increasing. In particular, data science is considered one of the highest-paid IT fields today. According to the Indeed platform, the average annual salary of data analytics specialists is more than 120,000 USD.
Career opportunities with R language
Data analyst (Data analytics)
Data scientist
Statistical engineer
R programmer
Data architect
Database administrator
Geo statistician
Researcher
Business intelligence specialist
Financial analyst
Machine learning scientist
Quantitative analyst
Statistician (Statistics)
Areas and industries where R is used
Academic fields
R is the dominant programming language in many academic institutions. Its use is not limited to statistics; various types of research require quantitative data, including correlational, experimental, and descriptive data. The increasing use of R in academic fields is due to the growth of big data.
According to a 2013 survey by DataCamp, 71.1% of respondents were studying economics and business, while only 10.5% were studying computer science. This shows that data skills play an important role in all fields.
Data Science
Along with Python, R is an important language in the world of data science. With the help of R, professionals can model and analyze both structured and unstructured data. At the same time, they use R to create machine learning and statistical analysis tools, which makes their work easier.
The R language makes it easy to work with data from a variety of sources, from data import to analysis. In addition, the R system and the CRAN library provide a wide range of data visualization functions and tools, which allow experts to present their research in an easy and readable format.
Statistics
R is the most widely used language in the field of statistical computing because it is a statistical programming language.
There are a wide range of packages that support this work, and R can also be used to develop software with built-in statistical functions. For example, RStudio computer scientist Joe Cheng notes in an interview that R, as a general-purpose language, also allows for the implementation of new statistical languages.
Finance
R's flexibility and ability to handle a wide range of data analysis tasks has led to its growing use in finance. Companies such as ANZ and Bank of America use R to analyze and model credit risk, prepare financial statements, manage investment portfolios, and more. Specialized tools for finance professionals, such as jrvFinance and Rmetrics, allow users with limited programming experience to perform financial calculations.
Social media
It's hard to find someone who doesn't use social media platforms at all these days.
Social media is also big business, with companies like Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok leveraging users’ habits to deliver targeted ads to other companies. Tools like R leverage the big data that social media companies collect. This helps drive algorithms that engage users with content that is relevant to their interests.
Large companies in the technology infrastructure such as Bank of America, Amazon, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, IBM, Uber, HP, Ford, and The New York Times are also among those using the R language.
