How to install and use R in VSCode, for beginners
Most of the R world uses RStudio, which I cannot stand. It’s ugly, slow and cumbersome.
RStudio also manages the language R itself, which makes troubleshooting very hard. The default answer is often “Have you tried reinstalling R?”
This is not 2003 anymore. I prefer:
- Reproducible installation steps
- A modern coding editor (VSCode)
Here’s how to do that.
1. Install R itself
brew install r
That will install Python3 too, because why not.
2. Install dependencies
Optional: Install radian, which is a pretty R console.
pip3 install -U radian
Install the language server
Open a terminal
Type r
to get into the R console.
Install the language server by typing this: install.packages("languageserver")
It’s going to take forever because it’s compiling C++ libraries like it’s 1993 …
Get out of this ugly console: q()
3. Make it work with VSCode
Open VSCode.
Install the R Extension for VSCode
Add the following properties to your settings.json
"r.bracketedPaste": true,
"r.rterm.mac": "/usr/local/bin/radian"
Enjoy!
Create an R file, then write some R code in it.
print("Hello World!")
Click on the “Run source” icon on the top right. It looks like a play button.
Watch it run on the terminal, you’re done!