Key R Packages

The three R packages that are the most foundational for corporate finance are RStudio, RODBC, and SQLDF. These packages allow you to easily pull and analyze data.

RStudio

The RStudio package provides an outstanding user interface to base R. Think of base R as the raw mechanics of a Porsche (engine, frame, wheels etc.), and RStudio as the plush interior (steering wheel, airbags, radio).

RStudio

The user interface is basically divided into quadrants, which have the below main uses.

Edit scripts, view tables	Open files, view data summaries
Run code- command prompt syle	View graphs, load and install packages

RODBC

The RODBC package allows users to easily query databases by ODBC.

ODBC Wiki

ODBC is a protocol used to translate database languages into a universal language. Finance folks will likely be able use RODBC to query their ERP and GL systems, assuming that their systems support ODBC.

SQLDF

The SQLDF package lets you query tables in stored in memory using SQL code.

SQL is a high level programming language designed specifically to query databases. From the finance perspective, SQL is great because using only a few lines of code, the computer will quickly perform complex data transformations on large data sets. 

In a later blog I will provide an introduction to SQL programming. For those interested in the R user community I recommend http://www.R-bloggers.com.