Data science is a fascinating field, but it is also a complex and multifaceted one. Only with the right knowledge can data scientists and analysts turn their creativity into results that will benefit their organization, their customers, and their shareholders.
Two of the most popular programming languages for data science are Python and R. Both of these programming languages are open-source, which means they are free to use and supported by many developers around the world.
Programming languages are the building blocks of software, websites and apps.
There are many programming languages out there, but which one is best for you? As a newcomer to the world of coding, you may be asking yourself whether to learn Python or R for data science. Both are popular programming languages in the data science world.
Python is one of the most popular coding languages currently in use, especially among data scientists. Although it is a general-purpose language, it has become so popular within this field because of its ease of use and a large ecosystem of supporting packages.
The wide range of packages available in Python makes it an attractive choice for data scientists as they can carry out complex tasks without writing too much code.
R is a programming language designed specifically for statistical computing and graphics representation. It is also used extensively by data scientists and analysts.
R has several packages that may be used to do complex statistical calculations with minimal code.
But which programming language is better for data science? That depends on your needs and your project. Let us take a look at some of the differences between Python and R to help you decide which one is right for you.
-According to IBM, the main difference between the two languages is their approach to data science. Large communities support both open-source programming languages, which are constantly expanding their libraries and tools. While R is the most extensively used computer language, Python offers a more general approach to data manipulation for statistical research.
– Another difference between Python and R is that Python is a multi-purpose programming language with a clear syntax that is simple to learn, similar to C++ and Java. Python is a programming language that allows programmers to perform data analysis and machine learning in a variety of production settings.
For example, you might use Python to build face recognition into your mobile API or for developing a machine learning application. (Source IBM)
R, on the other hand, is a statistical programming language that mainly relies on statistical models and specialized analytics.
Data scientists use R for deep statistical analysis, supported by just a few lines of code and beautiful data visualizations.
For example, you might use R for customer behaviour analysis or genomics research.
Source(IBM)
– In terms of data collection, all types of data formats such as comma-separated value (CSV) files to JSON sourced from the web, also SQL tables can be imported directly into your Python code. The Python requests package makes it simple to gather data from the web and use it to generate datasets in web development.
But for R data analysts have access to import data from Excel, CSV and text files. Files built-in Minitab or in SPSS format can also be turned into R data frames.
-Python has standard libraries for data modelling, including Numpy SciPy, sci-kit-learn, but for R, you will sometimes have to rely on packages outside of R’s core functionality.
-Considering Python has a more intuitive syntax than R, it is easier to read and write Python code. That is why many professional coders prefer it for data science.
-R has a wider variety of statistical models than Python does. R might be a better fit for you if your job needs a lot of statistical analysis.
-Another difference between R and Phyton is that R is better used for data visualization, even though there are phyton libraries while Phyton is better for deep learning.
Now you know some of the differences between Phyton and R, you can choose which works best for you.