Book Image

Data Science Using Python and R

By : Chantal D. Larose, Daniel T. Larose
Book Image

Data Science Using Python and R

By: Chantal D. Larose, Daniel T. Larose

Overview of this book

Data science is hot. Bloomberg named a data scientist as the ‘hottest job in America’. Python and R are the top two open-source data science tools using which you can produce hands-on solutions to real-world business problems, using state-of-the-art techniques. Each chapter in the book presents step-by-step instructions and walkthroughs for solving data science problems using Python and R. You’ll learn how to prepare data, perform exploratory data analysis, and prepare to model the data. As you progress, you’ll explore what are decision trees and how to use them. You’ll also learn about model evaluation, misclassification costs, naïve Bayes classification, and neural networks. The later chapters provide comprehensive information about clustering, regression modeling, dimension reduction, and association rules mining. The book also throws light on exciting new topics, such as random forests and general linear models. The book emphasizes data-driven error costs to enhance profitability, which avoids the common pitfalls that may cost a company millions of dollars. By the end of this book, you’ll have enough knowledge and confidence to start providing solutions to data science problems using R and Python.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
17
INDEX
18
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

2.4 BASICS OF CODING IN R

With R, as with Python, you execute a command which generates output. Much of the structure of R code will feel similar to Python code, with a few important differences. In this section we discuss the five kinds of programming actions we previously covered using Python, this time using R: Using comments, Importing packages, Executing commands, Saving output, and Getting data into Python.

2.4.1 Using Comments in R

The use of comments is just as important for coding in R as they are for coding in Python. Comments allow you to describe what the code does and other vital information.

Comments are lines of code which begin with a pound sign, #, such as the code below.

# This is a comment, and won’t be compiled by R!

Remember that R code will be presented in boldface throughout this text. Do not be afraid of putting comments in your code, even when not prompted by the examples and exercises in this text. Use the tool to keep your code as clear and understandable...