Assignment 1

practice makes perfect

Part A: Installation & Account Setup

In this assignment you will be setting up the software and online tools that you will be using throughout this course. Below there are links and instructions to relevant sites.

The first step is to create a Github account if you do not already have one:

Next you will need to install the software we will be using (if you already have them installed make sure they are the latest versions):

• R
• RStudio
• Git

Installing R

• Choose a download mirror site from the list that is close to you geographically
• Download the version of R that is appropriate to your operating system
• Install R in a manner appropriate to your operating system (MacOSX, PC)

Installing RStudio (Graphical User Interface for R)

• Download the free version of RStudio
• Install RStudio in a manner appropriate to your operating system (MacOSX, PC)

Installing Git

• Git is a version control system to keep track of our work and collaboration
• Instructions for setup can be found here and here
• Download Git

Connecting Git-Github-RStudio

• You will also need to link your Github account to RStudio by following these instructions.
• For many students this will be the most challenging task this semester. Several errors can be corrected by following the instructions located here.

A common error for Macs is:

error: unable to read askpass response from 'rpostback-askpass' or a similar error saying that Git is missing.

The fix is often:

• In RStudio, click on the Tools menu and select Global Options and then Git/SVN
• The Git executable box should contain the following filepath: /usr/local/git/bin/git if it does not contain this EXACT filepath (I.E. it says something like local/git) then click Browse and locate the git file at usr/local/git/bin/git and click OK.
• Click Apply and then OK
• Exit RStudio and then reopen, you should see a Git icon when you complete Part B below.