Preliminaries
 Prof. Jack Reilly
 Fall 2026

Readings
•	Read the course syllabus (all parts of this website)
•	Recommended reading:
–	RDS, introduction
Data & Computational Work
The main purpose of this week’s assignment is to get your computer ready for all the work in the class. This means, primarily, installing software.
Install R on your computer
Begin by installing R (http://cloud.r-project.org). Choose the version appropriate for your computing platform:
•	If you use macOS with an Apple Silicon processor (i.e. an M-series or possibly A-series processor), then install R for macOS’s Apple Silicon build. This version does not work on older, Intel-based Macs.
•	If you use macOS with an Intel processor, then install R for macOS’s Intel build.
•	If you use Microsoft Windows, then install R for Windows.
•	If you use Linux, choose your distribution and install the R package for it.
Install RStudio on your computer
•	If you use macOS (whether Apple Silicon or Intel), install this version of RStudio.
•	If you use Windows, install this version of RStudio.
•	If you use Linux, choose your distribution from the download page.
Confirm things work
•	R is really a great big calculator. Let’s do some calculations!
–	Add 2 and 3 together
–	Multiply 4 by 6
–	Divide 10 by 5
Due Next Week: Problem Set 1: Hello & Welcome to R