R and Python: The Data Science Dynamic Duo Posted on : Aug 12 - 2020

The language R is in the midst of a sizzling resurgence this summer. One might hypothesize that this growth is coming at the expense of Python, by far the dominant language for data science. But some evidence suggests that data scientists are increasingly using both.

“Rather than R versus Python, we focus on R and Python,” says Lou Bajuk, director of product marketing for RStudio, the Boston, Massachusetts-based provider of commercial and open source R software.

The folks at RStudio watched as the reports rolled in last year about the apparent demise of R. The TIOBE Index, which uses search terms and other measures to gauge the popularity of  languages, reported that R dropped from the 8th most popular language in January 2018 to number 20 in July 2019.

That drop coincided with a surge behind Python, which the folks at TIOBE attributed to a decline in R (as well as a drop in Perl interest). Some in the IT industry speculated that R was a dying language. Dice Insights declared that R was “probably doomed.”

But R regained that lost ground as quickly as it lost it. By July 2020, R was soaring in popularity according to the TIOBE Index, which placed R in the number 8 spot, right where it was before it started its apparent plunge.

R’s popularity has been on a roller-coaster ride. Some attribute R’s recovery to a surge of data science activity driven by COVID-19

Bajuk never put much stock in the R doomsayers. “I had it in my notes ‘Don’t call it a comeback,” he tells Datanami. “From our perspective, R never went anywhere. Yes, by some metrics [the language declined in popularity]. But from our perspective, we’ve seen R consistently growing. Demand has been consistently strong.” View More