Getting Started With Posit Positron, the new IDE for R and Python
A new IDE that blends the best of Visual Studio Code and RStudio features
Positron sounds like the latest Autobot to join Optimus Prime in the Transformer movies (and toys — can’t forget those!!). Instead, it is a new IDE meant to transform programming and data science workflows if its creator Posit has its way.
Positron is an IDE, launched as a surprise Beta product by Posit. The new IDE is designed to allow data scientists to better explore data in both R and Python programs.
Some Background on Posit
The name choice is interesting history for Posit. Posit is a software development company that was first known as RStudio due to its main product. RStudio became a very popular IDE among R programmers, particularly for a split window layout that displays scripts, libraries, visualizations, and created data objects.
RStudio incorporated capabilities to run reticulate, a library to run Python in R, within its environment. Quarto, an updated Markdown suite, further enhanced capabilities. As a result, RStudio began to draw a sizeable Python developer audience.
