R is a powerful language and software environment for statistical and graphics calculation. It is

an open-source program, which means it is free to use, and its popularity reflects a shift in statistical

computing and visualization output. The importance of R as a statistical language in today’s data rich

environment is its utility in analyzing and visualizing large data sets with the strong backup of its community of users and developers. The popularity of R continues to grow and achieve a global reach not only with academic researchers and programmers but also with private companies and local and national governments. After reviewing the history of statistical computing and open source software, this entry focuses on open-source

R and the solutions it provides for analyzing large data sets.