R Weekly Highlights

How the recent frontier LLM model releases compare for successfully generating R code, our take on the new Test Set data science podcast, and a surprising entry in the world of languages equipped for data science. Episode Links This week's curator: Sam Parmar - @parmsam@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @parmsam_ (X/Twitter)2025-12-05 AI NewsletterThe Test Set: Now on YouTube + a look at what’s nextHaskell IS a Great Language for Data ScienceEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W50Supplement ResourcesAdd links discussed in the episode (in place of this sentence)How well do LLMs generate R code (Shiny app) https://skaltman-model-eval-app.share.connect.posit.cloud/Python is not a great language for data science (Claus Wilke) Part 1 https://blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/python-is-not-a-great-language-forDataHaskell https://www.datahaskell.org/Supporting the showUse the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemixMarble Dash - Sonic the Hedgehog - Joshua Morris - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01365The Belmont Chill - Super Castlevania IV - Blak_Omen - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01195

Prepare to deploy multiple LLM-powered agents for your next (secret) missions with mini007, a new contender to the high-performance linter tools with blazing performance that doesn't seem possible (but it is), and a usethis-like manager for your projects needing unified branding across deliverables. Episode Links This week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)mini007 - A Lightweight Framework for Multi-Agent Orchestration in RJarl: just another R linter{rbranding} 0.1.0: Manage Branding and Accessibility of R ProjectsEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W48Supplement Resources Add links discussed in the episode (in place of this sentence)I wrote this talk with an LLM (Hadley Wickham UseR! 2025 Keynote) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctc2kx3LxG8mini007 GitHub repository https://github.com/feddelegrand7/mini007Jarl: Just Another R Linter documentation https://jarl.etiennebacher.comrbranding documentation site https://epiforesite.github.io/rbrandingSupporting the show Use the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter) Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemix Warriors of Light - Final Fantasy - Darangen - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01339Vamo alla Django - Final Fantasy IX Worlds Apart - AndyP feat. Fishy, Dan Bryant - https://ff9.ocremix.org

Creating your own race to a programming finish line with a hidden gem in mirai, the lowdown on using Generative AI for data visualization with more than a few surprises, and going from start to finish with a Shiny app created under the BDD mindset.Episode LinksThis week's curator: Sam Parmar - @parmsam@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @parmsam_ (X/Twitter)Aaaaand… they’re off!Generative AI for Data VisualisationBehavior-Driven Development in R Shiny: A Step-By-Step ExampleEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W42Supplement ResourcesDataBot https://positron.posit.co/databot.htmlSupporting the showUse the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter) Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemixWarriors of Light - Final Fantasy - Darangen - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01339Honky Town - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Wiesty, XPRTNovice - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03535

The ducks have made their presence felt in the world of databases, but now you can take a dip in a new Ducklake all within R! If you ever felt someone should write a book on the many ways you can slidecraft Quarto presentations, we have good news for you. Lastly, a spectacular series on harnessing the power of LLMs in your Shiny apps concludes with a powerful and very relevant use case to help review your next presentation slides.Plus … a popular segment returns Episode LinksThis week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)Jumping in the Ducklake with nothing but R onSlidecrafting - Making beautiful slides with reveal.js and QuartoThe Shiny side of LLMs Part 3Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W40Supporting the showUse the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemixRelm's Weepy Loop - Final Fantasy 6 - MkVaff - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00178Serenity & Grace - Chrono Cross - timaeus222 - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04143

Fresh off an amazing experience at posit::conf(2025), the R Weekly Highlights podcast is back with episode 211! Eric and Mike share their experiences at the conference and then dive into an amazing collection of highlights. We learn about a myriad of packages to programmatically write and parse markdown documents, initial impressions with vibe-coding an R package to learn Japanese, and the immense lengths the R-Exams project is taking to clean up messy scans of exam papers.Episode LinksThis week's curator: Jon Carroll - @jonocarroll@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonocarroll.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (Bluesky) & @carroll_jono (X/Twitter)All the Ways to Programmatically Edit or Parse R Markdown / Quarto DocumentsI Vibe Coded an R PackageQuality Control for Scanned Multiple-Choice ExamsEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W39Supplement ResourcesMike's presentation slides: Building Multilingual Data Science Teams https://ketchbrookanalytics.github.io/multilingual-data-science-presentationEric's presentation slides: Introducing Shinystate - Launching Shiny collaboration to new heights https://rpodcast.github.io/shinystate-positconf2025/#/titleslideSupporting the showUse the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter) Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemixTwoson Hits the Road - EarthBound - djpretzel - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01427Gemini Salsa - Mega Man 3 - MkVaff - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00146

In episode 210 of the R Weekly Highlights podcast: The Positron IDE has officially been released after two years of intense development, and we share what excites us the most. Plus a new tool in your Shiny testing toolbox to bridge the gap between server-side and dynamic updating the user interface, and an entry point to making that URL of your Shiny app set inputs on the fly, a topic one of your hosts has been investigating for quite some time!Episode LinksThis week's curator: Colin Fay - @colinfay@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @colinfay.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @_ColinFay (X/Twitter)Announcing Positron, a new Data Science IDE{shinytesters}: Updating Inputs in testServerAdding Shiny app’s parameters to the URLEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W34Supplement ResourcesThe Test Set Podcast https://posit.co/thetestset/Continue extension https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Continue.continueshinytesters getting started vignette https://ashbaldry.github.io/shinytesters/articles/shinytesters.htmlEric's shinystate R package https://github.com/rpodcast/shinystateSupporting the showUse the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemixCliff the Great Crusader - Suikoden - Trenthian - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01268Brinstar Bonsai Garden - Super Metroid - Red Tailed Fox - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01473

In episode 209 of R Weekly Highlights we learn ways you can pinpoint just what is slowing down your R code, a novel framing for testing your next plumber API, and the adventures in recreating a NY Times chart entirely with ggplot2.Episode LinksThis week's curator: Jon Carroll - @jonocarroll@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonocarroll.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (Bluesky) & @carroll_jono (X/Twitter)Speed Testing Code: Three LevelsTesting your Plumber APIs from RCopy the Pros: How to Recreate this NYTimes Chart in REntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W31Supplement ResourcesAdd links discussed in the episode (in place of this sentence)Eric and Mike's 2023 Shiny in Production workshop https://posit-conf-2023.github.io/shiny-r-prod/Jakub's R test gallery https://jakubsobolewski.com/r-tests-gallery/plumber2 - Easy and Powerful Webservers in R https://posit-dev.github.io/plumber2/Push straight to prod API development with R and Tensorflow at T-Mobile https://posit.co/resources/videos/push-straight-to-prod-api-development-with-r-and-tensorflow-at-tmobile/VCR R package by Scott Chamberlain https://github.com/ropensci/vcr/GitHub repository with Spencer's ggplot2 code https://github.com/Pecners/make_that_chartSupporting the showUse the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter) Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemixDigital Saṃsāra - Genshin Impact - OceansAndrew - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04775Big Earl Funk - ToeJam & Earl - Zach Chapman, Ian Martyn, newmajoe, Ronin Op F, TheManPF - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR04785

Discover the innovative Positron Assistant, which enhances coding efficiency by integrating with GitHub Copilot. Explore how AI is revolutionizing conference experiences with a new app for posit::conf(2025). Delve into data science advancements, including multilingual tools and interactive tables. The hosts share their reflections on the data science community, making the discussion both humorous and engaging. Tune in for insights on the blend of podcasting, AI technologies, and audience interaction!

It's been far too long since our last episode of R Weekly Highlights, but we are finally back with episode 207! In this episode we learn about novel ways to automate fancy Quarto content, how we can be on our best behavior with behavior-driven-development, and finding that pesky portion of data breaking long data pipelines with a magical debugging technique. Plus one of your hosts could not resist a hot take or two!Episode LinksThis week's curator: Ryo Nakagawara - @R_by_Ryo@mstdn.social (Mastodon) & @rbyryo.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @R_by_Ryo) (X/Twitter)Generating quarto syntax within RAn Introduction to Behavior-Driven Development in RDive()ing into the hunt #rstatsEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W28Supplement ResourcesAdd links discussed in the episode (in place of this sentence){quartose}: Dynamically Generate Quarto Syntax https://quartose.djnavarro.net/Cucumber: write automated tests in plain language https://cucumber.io/{cucumber}: An implementation of the Cucumber testing framework in R https://jakubsobolewski.com/cucumber/Shiny App-Packages https://mjfrigaard.github.io/shiny-app-pkgs/Supporting the showUse the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemixChillin' with the Bros - Super Smash Bros - Jamphibious - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03072Flames of Darkness - Mega Man ZX - Vyper - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01966

The summer schedule has been crazy, but we finally have a new episode of R Weekly Highlights! In this episode: How the new shiny2docker package eases your entry to the world of containers, the power of WebAssembly in full ggplot2 glory, and how the latest solution for speeding up R code draws upon a classic computing language you may not expect.Episode LinksThis week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)Containerizing Shiny Apps with {shiny2docker}: A Step-by-Step Guideggplot2 layer explorer{quickr} 0.1.0: Compiler for REntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W24Supplement Resources{attachment} - Tools to deal with dependencies in scripts, Rmd, and packages https://thinkr-open.github.io/attachment/The Rocker Project - Docker Containers for the R Environment https://rocker-project.org/r2u - CRAN as Ubuntu binaries https://eddelbuettel.github.io/r2u/ShinyProxy https://shinyproxy.io/GitHub repository for ggplot2 Explorer https://github.com/yjunechoe/ggplot2-layer-explorerSupporting the showUse the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedbackR-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.A new way to think about value: https://value4value.infoGet in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter) Music credits powered by OCRemixWillRocky - Return All Robots! - WillRock - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02280The Unnamed Frontier - Metroid II: Return of Samus - Pyro Paper Planes, Viking Guitar - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02892