[R] Feedback on you manual

[Patrick Burns]

On 24/10/2010 04:35, Steve Lianoglou wrote:

[ ... ]

>
> Speaking as as an older R-user to a new R-user, I can understand some
> of the frustrations you feel with coming up to speed with a new
> programming language.
>
> One piece of advice I have for you is that you should actually take
> the time to read through the entirety of that "An Introduction to R"
> page you keep stumbling upon. You can get through most of it in a
> night, and having read through it you'll likely be able to jump to
> relevant places of it when google sends you there as a result of one
> of your queries.

This is good advice for a set of people, but
I think quite bad advice for a lot of people.

"An Introduction to R" makes a LOT of assumptions
about the reader's knowledge.  To most of us
who have been using R (or other computer languages)
for a while, those assumptions are invisible.

If you look at 'Introduction' through the eyes of
a complete novice, it is really, really scary.
If they were to think this was the only way to
learn R, many will give up well before the night
gets under way.

>

[ ... ]

>
> Hope that helps,
> -steve

-- 
Patrick Burns
pburns at pburns.seanet.com
http://www.portfolioprobe.com/blog
http://www.burns-stat.com
(home of 'Some hints for the R beginner'
and 'The R Inferno')