Which is Better for Machine Learning and Data Science: R or Python?

Which is Better for Machine Learning and Data Science: R or Python?

Machine learning and data science are the two most important multidisciplinary fields that require a broad set of skills. 

From mathematics to statistics to programming to machine learning, and data visualisation, these are the set of skills required to make a career as an engineer or data scientist or land a great job in one of the top website development companies in India. 

The world has been heavily swept by the rise of data science and machine learning. But most people are still confused about which language is their go-to language for all the tasks of data analysis. 

The question is R or Python? Which language is the best? 

Let's dive in and find out what exactly these two programming languages are and which one is dominating for machine learning and data science or individual use cases.

What is Python?

Python is a high-level, interpreted, object-oriented and general-purpose programming language. It is known for its congenital syntax that mimics a natural language. 

The simple syntax and ease of using and importing machine learning packages make Python a developer-friendly language.

One can use the Python language for a wide variety of tasks, but the three most popular applications are:

  • Data science and data analysis
  • Development of web applications
  • Automation and scripting

What is R?

R is a software environment and statistical programming language that is built for statistical computing, graphics and data visualisation. 

The wide range of statistical computing techniques that R provides are linear and nonlinear modelling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification and graphical techniques, and is highly extensible. The in-built statistical feature in R makes it a better choice for data analysis. 

The language’s abilities fall into three broad categories:

  • Manipulating the data
  • Statistical analysis
  • Data Visualisation

How Different are The Two Languages?

Here is what makes the two similar category languages distinct entities. 

  • Python and R are both efficient languages with amazing data analysis ability. But for R, several of such functionalities are in-built. While Python can be used via importing packages such as random or numericals, etc.
  • R and Python, both the languages support several file formats like text files, HTML, XML, JSON and CVS. SQL queries can also be used in the languages R and Python via supporting packages.
  • Python is object-oriented which means it allows one to write robust and large-scale codes more easily and seamlessly than R.
  • Python provides countless tools for machine-learning that are wrapped in a package known as Scikit-learn. Whereas, R has many tiny individual libraries catering to every machine-learning tool. Although R offers several options, it’s not considered to be as developer-friendly as compared to Python.

Which Language is Dominant for Machine Learning and Data Science?

Data Science: 

The option to choose between Python and R lies in the kind of data scientist one aspires to be. 
R is ideal for the ones who wish to concentrate on probabilities and statistics. R has a huge community of experienced statisticians that can help solve queries.

In case, if one wishes to be in the development line, creating applications that processes a lot of data, then Python is the great choice. It comes with a more developed ecosystem, and is easier to locate people who want to collaborate on the same project as you.

Machine Learning:

Even though machine learning and data science are two exciting fields in the domain of computer science, it demands extensive programming skills and knowledge. 

R offers an amazing space to find out people who are well skilled and knowledgeable in this field of computer language and data science. It is widely used, free of cost , and provides a vibrant community.

On the other hand, Python is gaining popularity as a programming language for machine learning due to its enormous ecosystem of libraries, diverse developer community, and simple syntax. That is exactly why top website development companies in India hire Python programmers to develop quick solutions without heavy infrastructure costs.

The Homogenous Approach:

Using a homogenous approach, you can avoid compromising on both the languages.

Seeking help from a professional who knows and understands the importance of both languages will guide you to get the best of both worlds. One can utilise R to create appealing data visualisations in the data analysis. Whereas, using Python, one can create a production-ready model. 

Summary 

There is no point in fretting if you are not able to decide between R and Python. Agreeing on just one programming language to meet the desired results could be hard sometimes.

That's exactly why top website development companies in India state the requirements on the job description. You can go through them and understand what they are exactly looking for and you can choose your programming language accordingly.