Software

You should install and set everything here before the first day of class.

1. Sign up for Slack. You should have been sent a link to join in the course intro email. If not, email Professor Helveston for an invite link. I recommend using your @gwu.edu email to sign up, but if you use another email for another Slack then use that.

2. Install the Slack app on your phone and Turn notifications on!. I’ll send all course communication via Slack, so please make sure your notifications are on so you don’t miss anything.

3. Install the latest version of R and RStudio:

• Download and install R (version 4.0.2 or higher)
• Download and install RStudio (Desktop version)

4. If you have a Mac, install XQuartz. This is needed for making some figures and is only for Mac (if you’re on Windows or Linux, skip this step).

5. Sign up for Posit Cloud (the free version). It’s basically the same thing as RStudio, but accessible via a web browser. If things aren’t working on your computer, this is a great backup to quickly get back to working in RStudio.

For reference, “Posit” is the company that makes “RStudio”, the software we’ll use to work with R.

That’s it - you’re all set for class!