ποΈ Week 01 β Day 01: Introduction
Course Logistics, basic concepts, and differences between base R vs tidyverse
In this first week, we will cover what you can expect to learn from this course and the course logistics: all you need to know about the structure of the lectures, classes, assessments, and how we will interact throughout this course. More specifically, we will cover:
- What is this course all about?
- What do we mean by data science and by data engineering?
- The R vs Python debate and why we are using R in this course
- Base R versus tidyverse
π¨βπ« Lecture Slides
Either click on the slide area below or click here to view it in fullscreen. Use your keypad to navigate the slides.
π₯ Looking for lecture recordings? You can only find those on Moodle.
π Recommended readings & Revision
We designed this course with the intention that if you actively engage in the lecture and labs by following the live demos, asking questions when needed, and staying attentive, you should be able to grasp the concepts without needing to dedicate much time after class for revision. This will allow you to fully enjoy your time in ππ»ββοΈ London and connect with your fellow students. However, we acknowledge that there may be instances where you want to review certain concepts from the lecture and lab. With this in mind, consider this section as more of a checklist to ensure you are on track and confident in your progress than a to-do list.
Things you might want to do at the end of the day:
- Ensure you have R and RStudio installed on your computer
- Read (Grolemund 2014, chap. 2) if you need a refresher on R basics
- Ensure you have installed tidyverse
- Download the
dplyrcheatsheet (Cetinkaya-Rundel 2023) and keep it handy for reference. - Revisit base R vs
tidyversesyntax equivalence - Skim the textbook references mentioned in the slides to find out more about the topics covered in the lecture.
- Take note of any concepts that might remain unclear to you even after the lab and bring them to the next lecture.
π Communication
- Questions about R and
tidyverse? Lingering installation issues? Post them in the#help-with-r-and-tidyversechannel on Slack. - We will go through the unanswered questions posted in the public channels on Slack at the beginning of each lecture.