If you are new to data analysis, you will quickly see that statistical programming languages are one of the most important skills you can have. Structured Query Language (SQL), is used by data analysts to communicate with databases. R and Python are the best options to clean, manipulate, analyse, and visualise data.
What is Python?
Python is one the most widely used and advanced programming languages in the world. This general-purpose language is known for its ability to mimic the English language through its intuitive syntax. There are many Python applications, but these are the most popular.
Web app development
Automation and scripting
Data science and data analysis
What is R?
R is a programming language for statistical and software environments that allows data visualization and statistical computing. R offers many capabilities that can be grouped under three categories.
Data visualisation
Data manipulation
Statistic analysis
Python vs R – How do I choose?
You can’t go wrong with either one of these programming languages right away. Both R and Python are highly sought-after and can be used to tackle almost any data analytics job you might come across. Your interests, career goals, and industry background will determine which one you choose.
There is no right or wrong choice. However, it can be difficult to choose the right programming language for you career path. Here are some things to consider:
The learning curve
R and Python are both relatively easy languages to learn. Python was originally created to assist in software development. Python is more intuitive if you have some knowledge in C++ and Java. R, however, might be easier to learn if you have some statistics knowledge. It is easier to understand Python’s syntax, which means that the learning curve is not too steep. R is a complex language to learn at first, but it becomes much more intuitive once you get used to it.
Work environment
R is an R-based tool for statistical analysis. It can be used by data scientists, engineers, and academics without any programming knowledge. Python is a high-level production-ready language that is used for several industrial, engineering and research applications.Generally speaking, it’s easier and more sensible to learn a language that everyone around you already uses. This is also true for programming languages. It might be difficult to determine which programming language is used by each company if you are just starting out in the world of programming languages. Before you begin learning, make sure you look at job listings for the positions you are interested in and check out their job requirements. Are there more R- or Python-certified professionals? This can give you an idea of which language offers better opportunities.
There are strengths and there are weaknesses
Both R and Python can accomplish the same goals using the same tools
