Required Software
This course uses free, open source software. You need to download this software to your computer in order to follow along with the lessons and complete the associated assignments.
Git
Git is version control system. It helps keep track of changes and updates to your files. You can use it locally on your machine and also on servers.
You can download Git for free here.
On Windows, you can install Git (and Git Bash) with the official installer linked above.
On macOS, you can install Git automatically together with the Xcode software development kit by opening the Terminal app, typing git --version, and pressing Enter or Return.
On Linux, you can install Git with your distribution’s package manager.
R & R Studio
R is a programming language for working with data, performing statistical analyses, and generating data visualizations.
You can download R for free here.
RStudio is an integrated development environment (IDE) that provides a user-friendly interface for working with R. RStudio will not work if you do not also have R installed.
You can download the RStudio Desktop Open-Source Edition for free here.
On Windows, you’ll also need to download and install RTools in order for some of the packages we’ll use later to work.