R packages—bundles of reusable code and (optionally) data—are helpful for programming efficiently and avoiding the unnecessary duplication of your own and other people’s previously written code. You don’t have to want to be the next Jenny Bryan or Marek Gagolewski—or even to share packages publicly—to benefit from learning how to build packages for your own use. A small package containing functions that expedite your common workflows can shave hours of redundant work off your schedule. This workshop will cover how R packages are structured, how to add code and data to them, how to generate package documentation, how to check a package’s construction, and how to prepare the key auxiliary files that accompany R packages (description, namespace, and more). If you’ve written R code and thought, “These lines are giving me déjà vu…,” this workshop is for you. Eliminate redundant work, and save your most-frequent collaborator—your future self—time and energy by developing packages.

To participate in this workshop, you should have R and RStudio installed and have basic familiarity with both. If you're unfamiliar with the basics of R, we recommend participating in an introductory workshop or class before participating in this workshop. UVA Library Research Data Services offers an “Intro to R” workshop; in fall 2023, that will be offered on August 31st at 10:00 AM. Contact jacobgg@virginia.edu with questions about this workshop.

Our policy is that we do not record live workshops in order to encourage robust Q&A. However, you can always find the full workshop materials for all of our workshops at: https://library.virginia.edu/data/training/past-workshops which allows you to work through the material at your own pace. We also encourage you to reach out to the instructor at any time for a one-on-one consult, and for specific or general questions about any of the topics we cover.