Installation Guide

This guide provides detailed, OS-specific steps for installing the core software needed for this course: R, RStudio, and Git.

Installing on Windows

Follow these steps in order.

1. Install R

  1. Go to the CRAN (Comprehensive R Archive Network).
  2. Click the large “Download R-X.X.X for Windows” link at the top of the page.
  3. Run the downloaded installer (.exe file).
  4. Accept all the default settings during installation. Click “Next” until it’s finished.

2. Install RStudio

  1. Go to the Posit website.
  2. Click the “Download RStudio Desktop” button. The site should automatically detect you are on Windows.
  3. Run the downloaded installer.
  4. Accept all the default settings.

3. Install Git

  1. Go to the official Git website.
  2. Click the “Windows” link to download the installer.
  3. Run the installer. This one has many screens, but you can safely accept all the default options. The most important thing is to ensure that Git is added to your system’s PATH, which is the default behavior.

Installing on macOS

Follow these steps in order.

1. Install R

  1. Go to the CRAN (Comprehensive R Archive Network).
  2. Look for the “Latest release” section. Download the package (.pkg file) that matches your Mac’s processor (Apple Silicon “M1/M2/M3” or Intel). If you’re unsure, click the Apple menu → “About This Mac” to check.
  3. Run the downloaded installer. Accept all default settings.

2. Install RStudio

  1. Go to the Posit website.
  2. Click the “Download RStudio Desktop” button. The site should automatically detect you are on macOS.
  3. This will download a .dmg file. Open it.
  4. A new window will appear. Drag the RStudio icon into the Applications folder icon.
  5. The first time you open RStudio, you may get a security warning. Click “Open” to proceed.

3. Install Git

macOS comes with Git pre-installed. However, it’s often best to install a newer version using Homebrew, a package manager for macOS.

  1. Install Homebrew (if you don’t have it): Open the Terminal app (you can find it in Applications/Utilities) and paste the following command, then press Enter: bash /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
  2. Install Git: Once Homebrew is installed, run the following command in the Terminal: bash brew install git This ensures you have an up-to-date version of Git.