Book Image

Hands-On Data Science with R

By : Vitor Bianchi Lanzetta, Doug Ortiz, Nataraj Dasgupta, Ricardo Anjoleto Farias
Book Image

Hands-On Data Science with R

By: Vitor Bianchi Lanzetta, Doug Ortiz, Nataraj Dasgupta, Ricardo Anjoleto Farias

Overview of this book

R is the most widely used programming language, and when used in association with data science, this powerful combination will solve the complexities involved with unstructured datasets in the real world. This book covers the entire data science ecosystem for aspiring data scientists, right from zero to a level where you are confident enough to get hands-on with real-world data science problems. The book starts with an introduction to data science and introduces readers to popular R libraries for executing data science routine tasks. This book covers all the important processes in data science such as data gathering, cleaning data, and then uncovering patterns from it. You will explore algorithms such as machine learning algorithms, predictive analytical models, and finally deep learning algorithms. You will learn to run the most powerful visualization packages available in R so as to ensure that you can easily derive insights from your data. Towards the end, you will also learn how to integrate R with Spark and Hadoop and perform large-scale data analytics without much complexity.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)

Crafting visualizations

Undoubtedly, plots are among the best ways to speak to an audience. Some would advocate that plots are so important that, before you start writing an article, presentation, or report, you should first design your figures. There are several advantages to adopting this plot-oriented writing:

  • It speeds things up
  • It enhances the chances of having self-explanatory graphics
  • It improves the chances of holding your audience's attention

Learning how to draw neat graphics isn't easy and requires time and practice, but it does pay off. This chapter alone might not be enough to master such a skill, but it will certainly help.

R is not only famous thanks to its statistical capabilities, but also for its visualization tools. The ggplot2 package was built based on a theory known as the grammar of graphics. Knowing this theory is not a requirement, but it might...