Blog post for R packages session

[matt-dray]

On 2024-07-12. Why might you need to make one, package-dev flow, etc.

[StatsRhian]

Dropping in my notes. Might try and quickly write this up in the mid-sprint week?

Why R packages

• Questions
  • Have you made an R package?
  • When should you make an R package?
• Benefits
  • Reusability across projects
  • Easy to use documentation
  • Testing
  • Dependency management
• Myth busting
  • Doesn’t have to be on CRAN
  • Doesn’t have to have hundreds of functions
  • Doesn’t have to be useful for anyone else
  • It doesn’t have to do anything fancy
  • It’s hard to make an R package
• Talk through the structure
• Show {usethis} for quick R package
• Nice-to-have’s
  • pkgdown
  • GitHub Actions
  • CRAN
  • Hex stickers

Documentation

• Demystify
• “meta context”
• Vignettes

Our R packages

Why?

• Share with other analysts (inside & outside of SU)
• Easier to debug outside of Outputs app
• Easier to develop new functions (don’t need a shiny expert)

Why now?

• Finalised reports are coming
• Analysts are starting to duplicate work
• About to re-visit Waterfall / Tornado

What does done look like?

• Package that can take JSON and produce waterfall/beeswarm etc

Why did we start

• We repeat repeat repeat ourselves (outputs app)
• Changing code once to effect lots of things (update calc - improve docs)

What did we think about

• Where should stuff live?
• Who is going to use it?
• Why two packages?
  • Azure is used in NHP - but also useful for others

su.azure

• Wrapping R packages is okay
• Fragmenting - teasing out purpose

nhp.results

What the next for these packages

• Our vision?
  • NHP outputs (just shiny)
  • Fix as we touch
    • Little bits at a time
    • NHP analysis (can stay)
• Do you have repeated code?
• How stable are they going to be?
  • We’re trying to be aware
  • Style book (Hadley)
• How do I use it?
  • GitHub install / PAT
• Your country needs you (Peter)
  • Functionality
  • Issues

References

• https://www.rostrum.blog/posts/2021-04-18-pico-pkg/

[matt-dray]

Oh em gee, forgot about this. Yes: will contribute in the sprint void.