We've added an article about RStudio's Rproj files and how to adapt related workflows, if you're starting to kick the tires on Positron. If this interests you, check it out 👀 positron.posit.co/rstudio-rpro... #rstats #rstudio #positron - ThreadSky

jennybryan.bsky.social • 33 days ago

We've added an article about RStudio's Rproj files and how to adapt related workflows, if you're starting to kick the tires on Positron. If this interests you, check it out 👀

https://positron.posit.co/rstudio-rproj-file.html

#rstats #rstudio #positron

Comments

mjpeyton.bsky.social•29 days ago

Thanks for this write up, it really does help. I have really wanted to love Positron but instead it's felt like the processes and "best practices" that the rstudio team advocated for have very quickly shifted or been put aside without much communication.

mjpeyton.bsky.social•29 days ago

I know you advocated for project based workflows, and not specifically .rproj files, but between this, the lack of inline support for quarto and rmd files, it feels like a much larger shift is taking place than has maybe been acknowledged.

mjpeyton.bsky.social•29 days ago

For example, to come from RStudio and be told the only way to get anywhere close to feature parity with rmd or quarto is to use ipynb files is really jarring and still doesn't bring feature parity.

mjpeyton.bsky.social•29 days ago

This is all beta software and obviously no one is being forced to use Positron yet. Change is always hard but in this case it feels particularly hard when the communication so far hasn't seemed to address the foundational changes that are taking place in recommended or supported workflows.

mjpeyton.bsky.social•29 days ago

I really do deeply appreciate all the work you and the whole team do, and I acknowledge that I will just have to get more comfortable with change. This post was very helpful in working around some of the (perceived) shortcomings of Positron projects.

jennybryan.bsky.social•29 days ago

Remember that #rstudio is the result of ~15 years of engineering work. #positron is still in beta and there's a long, long list of features to build out. So, yeah, switching certainly requires some tolerance for change. But hearing from users helps us prioritize what to work on 👍

mattashby.com•33 days ago

For planning purposes, when do you expect Positron to be ready to be used in teaching? I’m sticking to RStudio this year, but I’m wondering when to start kicking the tires so I know enough to start using Positron with students. Thanks!

jennybryan.bsky.social•33 days ago

this is not written in stone, but I think it's possible that September 2025 (or January 2026) would be a reasonable time to start inviting students to use it

mattashby.com•33 days ago

That’s very useful to know, thanks. Looks like the time to start using it for my own projects is now!

econmaett.bsky.social•33 days ago

I NEEDED THIS!

gdeejay.bsky.social•33 days ago

"Expert data scientists keep all the files associated with a given project together — input data, scripts, analytical results, and figures..."

I feel attacked!
😤

jennybryan.bsky.social•33 days ago

☀️ come to the light ☀️

I am a known zealot for a project-oriented lifestyle, so I have to admit to a certain amount of glee that the file explorer won't even turn on in vs code / positron *unless* you open a folder 😅

I know not everyone works this way, but so many tools expect/encourage it

gdeejay.bsky.social•33 days ago

I've actually become pretty good at organizing my projects after a lot of trial and error.

Tbh I wish I'd learned about them when I started using R. Would have saved me a lot of pain along the way
😬

jennybryan.bsky.social•33 days ago

I think it's an "unknown unknown" for people who aren't coming from or interacting with the software dev world and that's true of lots of folks who just want to analyze data in their domain

liomys.mx•32 days ago

the file salad! 🥗

econmaett.bsky.social•33 days ago

And you should be ashamed of yourself! Just kidding, but R Projects are amazing!

gdeejay.bsky.social•33 days ago

I seriously wish I'd been taught this when I first started using R.

I actually don't remember it being covered when I did my data science qualification via JHU (but it must have been 😂)

econmaett.bsky.social•33 days ago

I was also led down the setwd() path. Reading https://rstats.wtf changed my life 😭

gdeejay.bsky.social•33 days ago

Yes!
🤦🏼‍♂️

I still teach setwd() in my R for policy analysis courses, but I quickly switch to projects.

econmaett.bsky.social•33 days ago

Setwd() has its place. I still use it to create files and directories. But I got so used to projects that I couldn’t work with the positron IDE 😅

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