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(This article was first published on <strong><a href="http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2017/10/rs-remarkable-growth.html"> Revolutions</a></strong>, and kindly contributed to <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.r-bloggers.com/">R-bloggers)</a> </div>
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<p>Python has been getting some attention recently for its <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/14/python_explosion_blamed_on_pandas/" target="_blank">impressive growth in usage</a>. Since both R and Python are used for data science, I sometimes get asked if R is falling by the wayside, or if R developers should switch course and learn Python. My answer to both questions is no.</p>
<p>First, while Python is an excellent general-purpose data science tool, for applications where comparative inference and robust predictions are the main goal, R will continue to be the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2017/01/cran-10000.html" target="_blank">prime repository of validated statistical functions and cutting-edge research</a> for a long time to come. Secondly, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2017/07/ieee-spectrum-2017-top-programming-languages.html" target="_blank">R and Python are both top-10 programming languages</a>, and while Python has a larger userbase, R and Python are both growing rapidly — and at similar rates.</p>
<p>The Stack Overflow blog runs the numbers in a post today, <a rel="nofollow" href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/10/10/impressive-growth-r/" target="_blank">The Impressive Growth of R</a>. Analysis of activity on the Q&amp;A site suggests &quot;R is growing at a similar rate to Python in terms of a year-over-year percentage&quot;. Python is the growth leader in the first tier of languages (including JavasScript, C# and PHP), in the second tier R is similarly the growth leader.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/10/10/impressive-growth-r/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Stack-overflow-second-tier-growth" title="Stack-overflow-second-tier-growth" src="http://revolution-computing.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b1db25970b01b8d2b34944970c-800wi"></a></p>
<p>On an industry-by-industry basis, R is also growing in every category. Academia and the healthcare industries are both the biggest users of R (according to StackOverflow traffic), and are also growing the fastest year-over-year.</p>
<p><a rel="nofollow" href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/10/10/impressive-growth-r/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="So-industry-growth" title="So-industry-growth" src="http://revolution-computing.typepad.com/.a/6a010534b1db25970b01b8d2b34984970c-800wi"></a></p>
<p>There's lots more analysis in the complete Stack Overflow blog post, linked below. Of particular interest to R users is an analysis of the R package ecosystem and the most-mentioned packages in Stack Overflow Q&amp;A's. A <a rel="nofollow" href="http://redmonk.com/rstephens/2017/10/10/r-package-downloads/" target="_blank">recent RedMonk post</a> also analyzes the top packages in the R ecosystem, with similar results.</p>
<p>Stack Overflow Blog: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/10/10/impressive-growth-r/" target="_blank">The Impressive Growth of R</a></p>
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