Publications by Chris
Automagic epi curve plotting: part I
As of 24 May 2018, the underlying data schema of the Github repo from which the epi curve plotter draws its data has changed. Therefore, a lot of the code had to be adjusted. The current code can be found here on Github. This also plots a classical epi curve. One of the best resources during the 2013-16 West African Ebola outbreak was Caitlin Ri...
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The Ten Rules of Defensive Programming in R
Where R code is integrated into a pipeline, runs autonomously or is embedded into a larger analytical solution, writing code that fails well is going to be crucial.The topic of defensive programming in R is, admittedly, a little unusual. R, while fun and powerful, is not going to run defibrillators, nuclear power plants or spacecraft. In fact, mu...
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Assignment in R: slings and arrows
Having recently shared my post about defensive programming in R on the r/rstats subreddit, I was blown away by the sheer number of comments as much as I was blown away by the insight many displayed. One particular comment by u/guepier struck my attention. In my previous post, I came out quite vehemently against using the = operator to effect ass...
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Structuring R projects
There are some things that I call Smith goods:1 things I want, nay, require, but hate doing. A clean room is one of these – I have a visceral need to have some semblance of tidiness around me, I just absolutely hate tidying, especially in the summer.2 Starting and structuring packages and projects is another of these things, which is why I’m ...
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