How to do it...

Of r-base-dev is also highly recommended as it has many inbuilt functions. It also enables the install.packages() command, which is used to compile and install new R packages directly from the CRAN using the R console. The default R console looks as follows:

Default R console

For programming purposes, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is recommended as it helps enhance productivity. One of the most popular open source IDEs for R is Rstudio. Rstudio also provides you with an Rstudio server, which facilitates a web-based environment to program in R. The interface for the Rstudio IDE is shown in the following screenshot:

Rstudio Integrated Development Environment for R