R is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics, available for free from The R Project. It is very similar to the S language and its commercial derivative, S-PLUS.

I helped write an introduction to R for MOAC's CH923 Bioinformatics module.

I've also put together my own a small collection of worked examples, where possible with sample graphics:

In addition to the examples above, you might be interested in:

• Density Profiles and Contour Plots from Scatter Plots (under construction)
• MOAC CH923 2005/06 Assignment - R/Bioconductor for microarray data analysis.

Other Resources

• R and BioConductor resources at Warwick
• Beginners should print out the R Reference Card .
• The R-FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions on R).
• There is rather terse introduction to R online (PDF version ) with no pictures at all.
• Have a look at this R Graph Gallery for good idea of the sort of images R can create.
• Some people at HRI have started an e-learning introduction to R, including live online demos.
• Another potentially interesting set of examples is Using R for psychological research.
• Lecture notes from an MIT course on Data Mining by Tom Minka (associated code).

P.S. If you are working with microarray data then you should really look at the Bioconductor package, a set of freely available biologically useful statistical tools.

The R Project

 

BioConductor