Software Installation Guide: R & Positron

Follow these steps in order to install R (the programming language) and Positron (the interactive development environment).

1. Install R

R must be installed before opening your development environment.

macOS

  1. Go to the CRAN macOS download page.
  2. Download the installer matching your processor architecture:
    • Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4): R-4.x.x-arm64.pkg
    • Intel Macs: R-4.x.x-x86_64.pkg
  3. Open the .pkg file and complete the standard installation wizard.

Windows

  1. Go to the CRAN Windows download page.
  2. Click Download R for Windows.
  3. Run the .exe installer and accept default settings.
  4. (Recommended) Install Rtools to compile R packages from source when needed.

2. Install Positron

Positron is an extensible data science IDE developed by Posit.

  1. Navigate to the Positron GitHub Releases or official Posit download page.
  2. Download the installer for your operating system:
    • macOS: Download the .dmg and drag Positron.app into your /Applications folder.
    • Windows: Download the .exe setup file and run the installer.
    • Linux: Download the .deb or .rpm package matching your distribution.

3. Verify the Setup

  1. Launch Positron.
  2. Locate the Interpreter / Console pane or the runtime indicator in the top toolbar. It should display your active R interpreter (e.g., R 4.x.x).
  3. In the R Console, test your installation:
# Verify R version
version