Hi. I'm looking for a tool like pip for Python and npm for Node.js that could specify my R app dependencies and install when needed. Anyone knows if R has this tool?
I think you will be interested in the Package Management channel. I will move your thread there.
This is also related to a topic there
Here is a list of tools that I know of and that could be useful to you
- packrat from rstudio is a great way to isolate environment. it uses a
packrat.lockfile for storing dependencies- See also webinars
- jetpack is designed as a CLI, above packrat. Another approach really interesting, that uses a
DESCRIPTIONfile - the same used for package. - rsuite , a more integrated solution
- automagic uses a
deps.yamlto then automatically install missing dependency. - deplearning which will scan a code to identify missing dependencies
- autoinst does basically the same. Install missing dependencies.
based on the way you asked your question, the two first could be of interest to you.
Personnaly, I currently use packrat for dependencies management to prepare deployment.
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If you create a package for your app, you can specify the dependencies. Then, if people can install it from a CRAN-like repository, whenever somebody runs install.packages("mypackage"), it will automatically install all dependencies.
Setting up a package repository isn't hard. You just need a drive or server everyone can access and to follow the official instructions. Then have people add it to the list of repositories (usually done in an .Rprofile file):
options(repos = c("path/to/internal/repo", getOption("repos")))
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