R is a programming language and software environment for statistical analysis, graphics representation and reporting. R was created by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and is currently developed by the R Development Core Team.

Features of R
As stated earlier, R is a programming language and software environment for statistical analysis, graphics representation and reporting. The following are the important features of R −

R is a well-developed, simple and effective programming language which includes conditionals, loops, user defined recursive functions and input and output facilities.

R has an effective data handling and storage facility,

R provides a suite of operators for calculations on arrays, lists, vectors and matrices.

R provides a large, coherent and integrated collection of tools for data analysis.

R provides graphical facilities for data analysis and display either directly at the computer or printing at the papers.