Why R for Biological Computing?

  • Cost
  • Statistics is widely used across biology: clinical studies, genetics, bioinformatics, ...
  • Place in the computational food chain:
    1. Flexible - Task specific tools maybe better at specific things, but not everything
    2. Functional - High-level language focused on solving the problem at hand, not bits
    3. Fast development - Solutions can be developed more quickly than with compiled code
    4. Extensible through user contributed packages
    5. Reasonably capable - While performance can't compete with compiled languages, see 1-3
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