Excel is a way of representing that how different data analysis can be made when applied in different programs. Using R Programming can do all kinds of statistical models including linear regressions, histograms, cluster analysis, and prediction methods to analyze data in ways, which we can’t do in Excel.
In general, Excel is based on the physical spreadsheet or accountant’s ledger. This is regarded as a large piece of paper with rows and columns. Records were stored in the first column on the left, calculations on those records were stored in the boxes to the right, and the sum of those calculations was totaled at the bottom.
Text-based data analysis is different
- In R data and computation are separate. You have one file which stores the data and another file which stores the commands which tell the program how to manipulate that data. This leads to a procedural kind of model in which the raw data is fed through a set of instructions and the output pops out the other side.
- In excel data is generally referenced by name. Instead of having a dataset which lives in the range of $A1:C$36 you name the dataset when you read it in and refer to it by that name whenever you want to do something with it.
In Excel has only one basic data structure: the Cell. Cells are extremely flexible in that they can store numeric, character, logical or formula information. The cost of this flexibility is unpredictability. For instance, you can store the character “6” in a cell when you mean to store the number 6.
The basic R data structure is a vector. You can think of a vector like a column in an Excel spreadsheet with the limitation that all the data in that vector must be of the same type. If it is a character vector, every element must be a character; if it is a logical vector, every element must be TRUE or FALSE; if it’s numeric you can trust that every element is a number.
R can handle very large datasets
Excel has a limitation in that per spreadsheet have so many rows and columns while R handle a larger amount of data.
R can automate and calculate much faster than Excel
Excel file can be crash when it contains up to 20 tabs chock-full of data, including a Pivot Table. Naturally, the file crashes due to the fact that Excel is able to handle a good amount of data, it creates a serious problem only when you start losing data because of the reason that the file seems unable to save when you add any more data to it.
R source code is reproducible
The source codes of R can be used repeatedly and with very different data sets in ways that Excel formulas and VBA source codes cannot. There are statistical source codes available which can be applied to any kind of dataset with only a few changes to code and reference data that can be reapplied several times very easily.
It can be much more time-consuming and also limited similarly to Excel. R is also loaded with an advantage that it shows the data and analysis, both parts separately, while Excel, on the other hand, shows them together (data within formulas). This allows the user to view the data more clearly to correct any errors or see the progression of the data.
Community libraries worth of R source code are available to all
Nowadays, R has been growing in usage and popularity over the past several years, the number of users is adding new functions to the available packages and libraries which has also increased.
It allows that any R users access to not only basic statistical functions, but also an increasing number of complex new functions that may be applicable to their data. Basically, it creates a community of R users who are extending their knowledge easily to other R users who may need a similar solution to their data.
R provides more complex and advanced data visualization
In general, excel can produce several types of basic graphs once you chop up and select the exact data you want to analyze. R is designed to produce graphs much more easily without all the pre-graph work, as well as provide more types of graphs that you’d ever know what to do with.
R IS FREEWARE
R can be downloaded by anyone anywhere on any platform!
R uses a scripting language rather than a GUI, so it’s much easier to automate things in R than in Excel. This can save a lot of time, especially when you plan to re-use the same analysis multiple times.
Due to the automation provided by R scripts, so many operations are much faster to perform in R than Excel.
It Reads Any Type of Data
Basically R can read any type of data (.txt, .csv, .dat, etc). There are packages specifically designed to read JSON, SPSS, Excel, SAS, and STATA data files.
Easier Project Organization
Generally, in Excel, the projects are often organized in different tabs of the same file. This can make the Excel file slow, clunky, and difficult to navigate. It is easier to keep a project organized when dealing with R scripts because different tasks or sub-projects can be stored in separate files stored in the same folder and linked together in the same project with RStudio.
Generally, researchers have shown that Excel and other spreadsheets show important inaccuracies in case of basic analyses like linear regression while R was specifically designed for statistical analysis, so it is more precise and accurate for data analysis.
R has more advanced statistics capabilities than Excel does. They also tend to be faster and more flexible.
Easier to Find and Fix Errors
Actually, R uses scripting rather than clicking, and allows comments and version control, one can see a history of the actions taken to achieve the result. This makes it easier to find and troubleshoot errors.
In Excel, however, errors can be hidden in formulas in cells that can be difficult to find. Spreadsheet errors have led to widely-publicized mistakes, including disastrous financial losses, faulty government policies, and the wrong drugs being given to cancer patients.
Humans make mistakes and mistakes in data analysis are inevitable, whether with spreadsheets or with R code. The bottom line is that it is quite easier to find and fix these mistakes in R than to do it in Excel, making it more likely that you’re getting an accurate result in R.
I hope both the worlds of R and Excel are in the much more broader light now. However, you can place your further queries in the comments section below…