1992年，R語言誕生。R語言是PC和Linux時代的產物，R語言和貝爾實驗室開發的S語言類似，R支援一系列分析技術，包括統計分析、預測建模、資料視覺化。在CRAN上可以找到眾多的擴張包。

       R軟體 的首選介面是命令列介面，通過編寫指令碼來呼叫相應的功能函式。同時，它也支援圖形介面。

       R語言可以用來做資料探勘，下面我們就用它來讀取birth2.csv 中的內容。

//birth2.csv

ALGERIA       ,36.4,14.6
CONGO         ,37.3,8
EGYPT         ,42.1,15.3
GHANA         ,55.8,25.6
IVORY COAST   ,56.1,33.1
MALAGASY      ,41.8,15.8
MOROCCO       ,46.1,18.7
TUNISIA       ,41.7,10.1
CAMBODIA      ,41.4,19.7
CEYLON        ,35.8,8.5
CHINA         ,34,11
TAIWAN        ,36.3,6.1
HONG KONG     ,32.1,5.5
INDIA         ,20.9,8.8
INDONESIA     ,27.7,10.2
IRAQ          ,20.5,3.9
FRANCE        ,25,6.2
JAPAN         ,17.3,7
JORDAN        ,46.3,6.4
KOREA         ,14.8,5.7
MALAYSIA      ,33.5,6.4
MONGOLIA      ,39.2,11.2
PHILLLIPINES  ,28.4,7.1
SYRIA         ,26.2,4.3
THAILAND      ,34.8,7.9
VIETNAM       ,23.4,5.1
CANADA        ,24.8,7.8
COSTA RICA    ,49.9,8.5
DOMINICAN R   ,33,8.4
GUATEMALA     ,47.7,17.3
HONDURAS      ,46.6,9.7
MEXICO        ,45.1,10.5
NICARAGUA     ,42.9,7.1
PANAMA        ,40.1,8
UNITED STATES ,21.7,9.6
ARGENTINA     ,21.8,8.1
BOLIVIA       ,17.4,5.8
BRAZIL        ,45,13.5
CHILE         ,33.6,11.8
COLOMBIA      ,44,11.7
ECUADOR       ,44.2,13.5
PERU          ,27.7,8.2
URUGUAY       ,22.5,7.8
VENEZUELA     ,42.8,6.7
AUSTRIA       ,18.8,12.8
BElGIUM       ,17.1,12.7
BRITAIN       ,18.2,12.2
BULGARIA      ,16.4,8.2
CZECHOSLOVAKIA ,16.9,9.5
DENMARK       ,17.6,19.8
FINLAND       ,18.1,9.2
FRANCE        ,18.2,11.7
E.GERMANY     ,17.5,13.7
W.GERMANY     ,18.5,11.4
GREECE        ,17.4,7.8
HUNGARY       ,13.1,9.9
IRELAND       ,22.3,11.9
ITALY         ,19,10.2
NETHERLANDS   ,20.9,8
NORWAY        ,17.5,10
POLAND        ,19,7.5
PORTUGAL      ,23.5,10.8
ROMANIA       ,15.7,8.3
SPAIN         ,21.5,9.1
SWEDEN        ,14.8,10.1
SWITZERLAND   ,18.9,9.6
U.S.S.R.      ,21.2,7.2
YUGOSLAVIA    ,21.4,8.9
AUSTRALIA     ,21.6,8.7
NEW ZEALAND   ,25.5,8.8
 

    載入相應的程式包，這些程式包裡有R的內建函式，載入語法為： library（X）  ; X表示程式包

//lib2.R

library(MASS)
library(lpSolve)
library(sampling)
library(RODBC)
library(survival)
library(splines)
library(Hmisc)
library(timeDate)
library(timeSeries)
library(norm)
library(fBasics)
library(Matrix)
library(rattle)
library(ellipse)

library(lattice)
library(nnet)
library(mice)
library(arules)

library(colorspace)
library(TSP)
library(gclus)
library(scatterplot3d)
library(grid)
library(vcd)
library(seriation)
library(cluster)


library(mvtnorm)
library(stats4)
library(modeltools)
library(multcomp)
library(mclust)
library(flexmix)
library(fpc)
 

setwd("D://R_work//data") #設定工作區間
data4 = read.table("birth2.csv",header=F, sep=",")  #讀取csv檔案
data4    #輸出向量data4中的內容

圖（1）用R語言讀取.csv檔案中的內容