What is Live-R?

R in a browser!

Put simply, Live-R is R in a browser.  That means you get all the power of R, accessible from any internet connected device, and without having to worry about installing software on your machine. But Live-R is more than that.  At Live Analytics, we know that the best research comes out of collaboration, so Live-R lets you share your work easily.  With just a couple of clicks, you can share your R workspace, or your code with colleagues.  In fact, you can even let your colleagues edit a file at the same time as you.

In future posts, we’ll take a more detailed look at the features of Live-R.  In the meantime, here are some reasons that you might like to try it.

• Live-R’s fully scalable web architecture means that you can analyse big data without worrying about hardware requirements.
• No software installation means no more worries with IT support.  Those hours spent trawling the internet because a package wouldn’t install properly, or on the phone with a technician because the corporate network won’t play nicely with R will be a distant memory.
• Sharing is easy and fun.  Got an idea for that someone might like?  Show them your code.  Stuck on a problem?  Make it easy for people to help you by showing them your problem.  Live-R makes it simple to share workspaces and code, and to publish your results.
• You can even share with yourself!  If you have an analysis that takes a long time, you can start it on one machine, and pick up your results on another.  (There’s a batch mode feature that leaves you free to work on other problems in the meantime.)  Now you are free from being tied to a single machine.
• Live-R also makes it easy to teach and to learn statistics, with builtin integration of course materials and textbooks.

Live-R is currently in beta, but it is ready for real-world use.  If you are interested in trying it, click here.