Atom vs RStudio


Let's talk about workflow.

Most R users that I know use RStudio.

Most programmers that I know use a text editor like Emacs, or use what is embedded into an IDE like PyCharm or IntelliJ. https://jstaf.github.io/2018/03/25/atom-ide.html

There are some things to like about RStudio (especially once you get the layout right), but it's a still a primarily point-and-click experience. I want to be able to do text editor things that should never need a mouse: open and close files, comment out lines, edit many lines of text at the same time. At the same time I want to be able to do IDE things without excessive (or any) pointing and clicking around: run bits of code, run entire scripts, view the contents of dataframes, find where functions are defined. All of this is possible in Atom using Hydrogen.

Let's run through a few examples of what this looks like in day-to-day use, and then I'll share the nitty gritty on getting Atom+Hydrogen set up (it's not quite as streamlined as just downloading RStudio).

Create a file and start the editor

First, we need a file. Start in the project directory.

Atom

Start Atom with atom . or jump through the file creation with atom scratch.R. If you just opened Atom with atom . (which I usually do), just ^x ^f, type the path (let's just create scratch.R) and start typing. So far, we've spent a few seconds at the keyboard to create the file and type out x = 10.

RStudio

We can start RStudio the same way, RStudio ., and create the new file with Command+N. We can give it the filename by saving, Command+s. If the file already existed, we'd need to click the Files pane, navigate to it, and click the filename. Click on the file, and type in x = 10.

Run code

Now let's go ahead and start running code.

Atom

To start the kernel first: Command+P, start typing "start" and hit enter to Hydrogen: Start Local Kernel. You'll have to hit enter again to select "R" and then boom, you 10 printed after. You could also just Shift+Enter on the line x=10 and Atom will go ahead and start the kernel for you (you'll still need to hit enter to confirm "R").

RStudio

This is about the same, Shift+Enter and your code runs in "Console" pane.

Write more code

This where RStudio and Atom really get different. In Atom, with atomic-emacs, I can do all of the following things from the keyboard:

  • Grab a block of code to indent, edit in multi-line mode, or comment it out.
    • In Rstudio, you could select with the mouse and use the menu or a keyboard shortcut to comment lines, or auto-indent lines.
  • Move the cursor forward by whole words, and/or select parts of code this way.
    • Again, this is a point and click in R.

I guess this is really the biggest differentiator for me in Atom: the ability to manipulate raw text very quickly and easily, without any clicking around or selecting things. Making tasks that take 15 seconds only take 3 seconds (like executing a specific part of a line, or block of code) adds up!

Setting up Hydrogen

You still need base R, and then to install the IRKernel.

In one line:

Rscript -e 'install.packages("IRkernel", repos="http://cran.us.r-project.org"); IRkernel::installspec(name = "ir351", displayname = "R 3.5.1");'

Install the following Atom packages:

  • https://atom.io/packages/atom-language-r
  • https://atom.io/packages/hydrogen

And in the Atom settings for Hydrogen, under "language mapping", set {"ir351": "R"}. You may not need to set this, I didn't need to, but just in case.

Enjoy whichever editor you're using :)