Over the past year, I have been learning and using R, and I have come to appreciate its strengths in statistical computing and data analysis. R is widely used in academia and corporate settings. R is specifically designed for statistical analysis, making it an essential tool for researchers and analysts. Its integration with packages like [ggplot2] for visualization and [dplyr] for data manipulation makes it a powerful choice for anyone working with data. As I continue to develop my skills in R, I see it as an essential component of my data career.
When I think of free and open-source software, I immediately think of AI tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek. The pace of AI development is so rapid that it often feels difficult to comprehend its full scope. AI is no longer just an emerging technology - it is something we must learn to work with and incorporate into our daily tasks. Many companies now encourage employees to leverage AI for problem-solving and productivity. The accessibility of open-source software has also fueled innovation, as it allows developers and researchers to build upon existing frameworks and contribute to a collective knowledge base. The ability to harness and customize open-source tools will be a key differentiator for professionals in the AI-driven era.
Although I have heard about GitHub from colleagues and classmates, I have not explored it in depth yet. From my understanding, GitHub is a critical platform for software development, allowing programmers to share and collaborate on projects seamlessly. It serves as both a repository for storing code and a portfolio to showcase projects to recruiters and industry professionals. In the data science field, GitHub is widely used for version control, open-source collaboration, and sharing analytical projects. I am eager to gain hands-on experience with GitHub and begin using it as a portfolio for my data career. As I build more projects in R and other analytical tools, I plan to leverage GitHub to document my progress and engage with the broader data science community.