R and Python are among the most-used programming languages in the world, particularly in the era of data analysis and artificial intelligence. This article provides an analysis and evaluation of the programming languages R and Python. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each language. You will also learn the 12 key differences between R and Python and their five similarities.
What Is R?
R is an open-source programming language with an environment that is useful for performing statistical computing and data visualization. This environment is built around a basic command-line interface that programmers utilize to read data, specify commands, and receive results. The environment also allows programmers to combine individual operations into a single function that can be reused and perform looping functions.
R runs and compiles on various operating systems such as UNIX platforms, macOS, and Windows. It is a popular language in academic settings due to its robust features. R has various statistical and graphical methods, such as time series, machine learning algorithms, and linear regression.
Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman officially released the first version of R in 1995. Over the years, several versions have been released, with each introducing new or improved features. On 22nd April 2022, the latest R version was released: 4.2.0.
Companies such as Meta, Google, and Uber use the R programming language.
Pros and cons of R
The R programming language has the following advantages:
- Through ggplot2 R, users can visualize their data with attractive graphs with notations and formulas.
- R users convert unstructured code into structured ones through packages such as readr and dplyr.
- R is an open-source language that allows several people to optimize and improve its source code and features.
However, it does have a few drawbacks:
- R takes more time to give an output when compared to other languages, such as MATLAB, as it is a slowing processing language.
- R consumes more memory as objects are stored in the random access memory (RAM); the process slows down as more data is added.
- R is not ideal for use with big data. It also requires that all the data be in one place, thus making the process of data handling tedious. Although, users can use integration to make this process easier.
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What Is Python?
Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. It is an open-source, flexible, and object-oriented programming language that emphasizes code readability with a decluttered visual structure and simple syntax.
Python runs in operating systems such as macOS, UNIX- based systems, MS-DOS, and various versions of Windows. Python is a popular language applied in data science, data analysis, web application development, machine learning, and system scripting. It is preferred by programmers for its versatility, debugging capabilities, embeddable code, code efficiency, and other complex functionalities.
On 20th February 1991, Guido Van Rossum released the first version of Python language. Since then, several versions of Python have been released, as others have been discontinued due to security concerns. For example, on 7</…….