R vs Python | A complete analysis

Data scientists have long been debating between R vs Python. Both languages are now quite well-liked among data scientists. Data scientists can extract valuable insights from the sea of data by using Python and R. Languages for data science are extremely popular because of their extra capabilities and seamless functionality.

What is R?

The website of the R Foundation is the best resource for finding a comprehensive definition of What is R?  R is the programming language for statistical computing and visual design. John Chambers and colleagues created at it is GNU project that is comparable to the S language.  Data miners, bioinformatics, and statisticians use R for data analysis and developing statistical software.

Advantages of R

There are several advantages of R are –

• Since R is open-source and free and is the ideal platform if you’re creating a new program because it’s a low-risk endeavor. You do not need to make payments or acquire licenses. Developers contribute to the development of R by adding and optimizing packages and solving bugs if any.
• It is platform-independent, and it runs all operating systems. R is cost-effective because of its independence.  Coders have the flexibility of writing programs once for several platforms. 
• R is the most recognized statistical language. R is the preferred programming language for the creation of statistical tools.
• R offers a wide variety of packages. Over 10,000 packages, including R statistical packages, are found in the CRAN repository, and that number keeps rising. It is perfect for data science and machine learning tasks.

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Disadvantages of R

Some of the disadvantages of R are-

• Objects are kept in physical memory in R. Comparing programming languages R vs Python, R uses more memory. All information is in a centralized location in the memory. This is not the ideal solution when dealing with Big Data. 
• R is not adequately secure. Security is a crucial component of any programming language.  R has a lot of limitations since we cannot integrate it into a web application.
• R does not have the support of dynamics or 3D graphics because it shares its origin with older languages like S.
• R is much slower than programming languages than Mathlab and Python.

Difference between  R vs RStudio

The difference between R vs RStudio is as follows 

• R is a programming language while R Studio is an integrated development environment. 
• R is installed on most computers but you need to install RStudio on your computer. RStudio is more elaborate than R. 
• RStudio is more elaborate when compared to R. R is a programming language and works independently.
• R is used for statistical computing, while users utilize R Studio to develop statistical programs.

What is Python?

Python is an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level, dynamically semantic programming language. Guido van Rossum developed the language and released it in 1991. Python is popularly used for Rapid Application Development and as a scripting or glue language to tie existing components together because of its high-level, built-in data structures, dynamic typing, and dynamic binding.

The language is used for server-side web development, software development, mathematics, and system scripting. It has an easy-to-learn syntax and emphasis on readability resulting in lower program maintenance costs. Additionally, Python’s support for modules and packages makes it easier to reuse code and create modular programs. As an open-source community language, multiple independent programmers are constantly developing Python.

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What are the Python Advantages?

There are several advantages of Python.

• Python is user-friendly and easy to understand. It is an extremely advanced programming language with a syntax that resembles English. These features make the language easy to learn and adapt. Python’s foundations make it easier to implement than other computer languages due to their simplicity.
• Python is open-source software. Users have the flexibility of working and distributing code. They have the option of downloading and modifying the code.
• Python offers greater flexibility than other programming languages. 
• Python is easy to use because it is an interpreted language, and the code is executed line by line. If there is a mistake, it stops the operation and reports the issue. Debugging the program becomes efficient.
• Python has a large library that contains every conceivable function. Coders do not need to use libraries from other programming languages to write programs.
• Python supports portability, and programmers need to write the code only once and can run anywhere.

What are the disadvantages of Python?

Some of the disadvantages of Python are –

• Python requires a lot of memory, and this can be problematic if you want to create memory-efficient programs.
• The slow speed is a major drawback. Python executes one line of code at a time, and you cannot use it where speed is crucial. 
• Python does not have an advantageous database access layer compared to other programming languages like Java.
• Python is generally not used for front-end programming and mobile apps because of high memory utilization and sluggish pace.
• Python is prone to run-time errors.

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What are the Differences between R and Python

There has been a battle about the best programming language for data science, and there are two front runners R and Python. Data scientists choose between the two languages based on costs, requirements, and the tools required for building the program they need. In this section, we will discuss some of the key differences between R and Python.

Comparing Data Speed: R vs Python

If we compare data speed: R vs Python, we find that R is a low-level language resulting in longer codes and slower processing speeds. Python is a high-level language, and it processes data faster. Python is faster with a simpler syntax. 

Who are the Primary users: Python vs R?

If we compare the primary users: Python vs R, programmers, and developers use Python, while academics and R&D experts use R. Python has a more encompassing approach to data science and developers use it for deployment and production. R is focused on statistical analysis and is used for data analysis and developers. As a result, Python is more popular and has a vast user base.

Comparing Libraries: Python vs R

If we compare libraries: Python vs R, we find Python has a more extensive library. Most programmers do not need to know about all the libraries in Python but are familiar with the ones they need. R has fewer libraries than Python, and programmers find it easier to understand the libraries in R. R allows programmers to use available libraries, and Python allows programs to be created from scratch.

Comparing Integration: Python vs R

If we compare integration: Python vs R we find R runs locally while Python runs on a well-integrated app. In general, Python integrates better than R in any technical context. It generally provides a better solution by combining distinct components using a Python wrapper, regardless of whether the designers seek to leverage a lower-level language like C, C++, or Java. 

Comparing IDE: R vs Python

IDE or Integrated Development Environment is a tool where programmers can write, test, and debug their code easily. The IDE offers code insight by highlighting, resource management, compiling, and debugging. If we compare IDE: Python vs. R. 

Python offers five development environments specifically for data science. The top 5 IDE are –

• Spyder
• PyCharm
• Thonny
• Atom
• Jupyter Notebook

The best IDE for R are –

• RStudio
• Visual Studio Core
• Atom
• Sublime Text
• Rider

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What are the Applications: Python vs R?

If we compare applications: Python vs R, R might be a good fit for you if you’re passionate about the statistical computation and data visualization aspects of data analysis. Python might be a better choice if, on the other hand, you’re interested in working as a data scientist and utilizing big data, artificial intelligence, and deep learning methods. Python for data analysis is a suitable option. The same holds if your interests in programming, development or other areas of computer science go beyond data and into your personal or professional life. Compared to R, Python is a general-purpose language, and you can use it for various activities.

Comparing Popularity: R vs Python

If we compare popularity: R vs Python, we see Python steals a march. According to Stack Overflow, Python is the third most popular language trailing behind JavaScript and HTML, while R is 24 on the list. Though this difference looks stark and startling at first, it soon becomes clear that R has little competition above it in terms of a programming language for analyzing data and generating graphs and reports. R has an edge over other programming languages, especially when we rank languages based on the PYPL index (which ranks languages based on Google searches for tutorials for those languages), Python is ranked at the top spot, and R is ranked at number seven.

What is the Average salary: Python vs R

Python and R are popular choices for organizations, start-ups, and companies looking to improve efficiency at lower costs.  Skill in Python is quoted more frequently in various job descriptions in job portals.  According to the 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, R is a more in-demand skill worldwide. R developers are earning an average of $64k annually, $1k more than the $63k reported by Python developers. The scenario in the US is reversed, with R programmers earning $108k and Python programmers earning $116k annually.

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Which language has a steeper learning curve: Python vs R?

Comparing the learning curve: Python and R will depend on your skills as a programmer. If you are a beginner, Python is simple and easy to understand. Although R is not regarded as a good first language to learn, it shouldn’t be too difficult to understand if you are already familiar with programming languages.

R could seem simple to start, but the learning curve jumps exponentially when you dive into more sophisticated concepts. Python, on the other hand, is easy to begin and has a learning curve that is linear and smooth.

Python vs R for data science

Python and R are both suited for data science and data mining. Data Scientists find deciding which platform to use challenging. Python distinguishes out because of its general-purpose qualities and the fact that it has a very regular syntax, whereas R was exclusively created for statisticians, making it represent analysis as a specific advantage for visualizing data. Here are some key differences between Python vs R that will help you decide.

Why you should choose Python for big data?

Developers like using Python for big data because it is open-source and easy to learn. Python is scalable and can process a large amount of data with ease. If you compare it with other programming languages, such as R and Java, Python is more scalable and flexible. Developers and coders can use a large number of directories and framework Python offers. Libraries like Panda, NumPy, and Scikit-learn, specifically cater to data analytics and machine learning. Python’s fast-processing speed makes it ideal for processing big data. The language is portable and extendable.

Why choose R for data science solutions?

Several programming languages are compatible with handling data science processes but R evaluates and uniquely collects data. We choose R for data science solutions because R produces error-free plots and graphics. This makes R the perfect tool for visualization, and it can perform complex statistical computations and calculations easily. It offers a variety of advanced data analysis techniques like machine learning and is the perfect tool for analyzing large amounts of data quickly.  R can perform various data science operations like data wrangling, data visualization, statistical computation without vectors, and web application.

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What are some popular Python data mining tools?

Python is ideally suited for data mining. Data mining requires statistics, code, and machine learning algorithms instead of explosives and smelting.  Python provides several data mining tools and it has an ecosystem of third-party modules. Some popular Python data mining tools are –

• Pandas 
• Matplotlib
• Seaborn
• Jupyter
• Satsmodels

What are some popular R data mining tools?

The largest library of data mining modules is undoubtedly in R, which is also more advanced than Python’s Scikit-learn. The only issue with them is that because the data is processed in memory, working with greater volumes of data is difficult and time-consuming. Some of the best R data mining libraries are 

• Dpylr
• Caret
• Ggplot2
• Shiny

Python packages for data science

Python never fails to astound its users when it comes to handling jobs and problems related to data science. The majority of data scientists already regularly use Python’s power. Python is a popular, object-oriented, open-source, high-performance language that is simple to learn and easy to debug, among many other advantages. Python has outstanding data science packages that programmers utilize daily to solve challenges. The top 5 Python libraries for data science are listed below:

• TensorFlow
• NumPy
• SciPy 
• Pandas
• Matplotlib

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Top R packages for data science

R is one of the most popular programming languages for statistics and has a firm foothold in data science. You will find over 10000 packages in the CRAN repository. Data scientists use some of these packages for data science –

• Dplyr
• Ggplot2
• Tidyr
• Shiny 
• Caret

R vs Python for machine learning – Which is better?

If you are working on a machine learning project, you will have to choose the right programming language. The choice often comes down to selecting R vs Python for machine learning. 

The most common tools used by data scientists are R and Python, which both have aspects in common. Both are open-source and therefore free, however, R was designed for statistical analysis, whereas Python is set up as a broadly useful programming language. However, Python seems to perform better when dealing with repeated jobs and manipulating data. If you intend to develop a machine learning-based digital product, Python is the best option. Additionally, choose R if you need to create a tool for ad-hoc analysis at a crucial point of your project.