Learning R programming is a great choice, especially if you're working with data analysis,
statistics, and automation. Given your background in SQL, Power BI, and Python ETL,
you already have a strong foundation for picking up R quickly.
Here’s a structured roadmap to help you master R efficiently:
Step 1: Set Up Your Environment
Install R & RStudio (Best IDE for R)
• Download R: https://cran.r-project.org/
• Download RStudio: https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/
Why RStudio? It provides an easy-to-use interface, syntax highlighting, and debugging
tools.
Step 2: Learn the Basics (Syntax & Data Types)
Since you already know Python & SQL, focus on R’s unique aspects:
• Variables (x <- 10 instead of x = 10)
• Data types (numeric, character, logical, factor, etc.)
• Vectors, Lists, Matrices, Data Frames
• Conditional statements & loops (if-else, for, while)
Resources:
R for Beginners (Book)
W3Schools R Tutorial
Mini-Exercise: Create a vector of numbers and calculate the mean/median.
Step 3: Data Manipulation with dplyr & tidyverse
R is powerful for data wrangling, especially with the tidyverse package.
Key Functions in dplyr:
• filter() → Select rows
• select() → Choose columns
• mutate() → Create new columns
• arrange() → Sort data
• group_by() + summarise() → Aggregate data
Resource: R for Data Science (Hadley Wickham)
Mini-Project: Read an Excel/CSV file, filter data based on conditions, and calculate
summary stats.
Step 4: Data Visualization with ggplot2
R excels at visualization. ggplot2 is the most powerful package.
Basic ggplot2 Syntax:
library(ggplot2)
ggplot(data = mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = hp)) + geom_point()
Resource: ggplot2 Cheat Sheet
Mini-Project: Create a bar chart or scatter plot for sales data.
Step 5: Statistical Analysis & Machine Learning (Optional)
If you want to do advanced analytics:
Hypothesis Testing (t.test(), cor.test())
Regression Models (lm(), glm())
Machine Learning (caret, randomForest, xgboost)
Resource: Machine Learning with R
Mini-Project: Build a linear regression model for predicting sales.
Step 6: Automate & Integrate R with SQL, Power BI, and Python
Since you work with BI & SQL, explore:
Running SQL queries in R (DBI, odbc)
Automating reports with rmarkdown
Connecting R to Power BI via R scripts
Resource: R for Power BI
Mini-Project: Fetch data from SQL in R, clean it, and generate a Power BI-ready
dataset.
Step 7: Practice & Real-World Projects
Join Kaggle for data challenges
Automate your Excel reports using R
Contribute to GitHub projects
Final Thought:
Since you already know Python & SQL, R will feel familiar yet different. The key is practice
with real-world data rather than just learning theory.
Do you want a specific project idea or a detailed learning roadmap based on your goals?