Below I outline the simple steps to get RStudio working with GitHub. It also contains version control for Git and SVN.

RStudio is an excellent integrated development environment built specifically for R. Thus, the take home message for the day is ‘GitHub is easy and you should use it.’ Still not convinced? I suggest you google ‘ why should I use version control?’īelow, I show how to use GitHub with Rstudio and also show that it is equally easy to use GitHub with any simple file of code. GitHub, which seamlessly integrates with Git, allows you to 1.) keep copies of all of your code through time, 2.) compare code from various points in time (very useful for debugging), 3.) collaborate with people on the same project in a non-chaos inducing fashion, and 4.) keep copies of your code both locally and online (note that you should still officially back up all of your work). GitHub allows you to push your code from your local workspace to be hosted online. Git isn’t the only version control system out there (e.g., SVN), but it is one of the more popular implementations. Git is a version control system and allows you to save copies of your code throughout the entire developmental process. You may be thinking to yourself (well, at least, I was guilty of this) that all of your code is backed up on Dropbox, Google Drive, and three external hardrives – so what could possibly go wrong? The short answer is: lots! The longer answer is that there really are some tremendous advantages associated with using Git and GitHub that may not be immediately apparent. Or you may find it confusing and not worth the bother. A few of you out there may still be skeptical about the benefits of using GitHub. A few weeks back, the Molecular Ecologist released an article about GitHub and also created an organization where you can fork or simply download code shared by the Molecular Ecology community.

Connect rstudio to github