Customer Reviews

Introduction to S & S-PLUS (Statistics Software)

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The book "An Introduction to S and S-Plus" by Phil Spector is an excellent text for anyone who wants to get things done with the S/S-Plus statistical package. The book covers the basics of loading data into the system, how to manipulate datasets using the various operators and functions of S-Plus, as well as how to make full use of the graphics subsystem. Advanced topics such as how to dynamically load object code into S are also covered. The best part of the book is that it offers very useful examples of how to do things. Unlike many other computer books, the examples aren't contrived expository devices that the author cooked up in a minute. I've found that, even after using S-Plus for many years, I come back to this book over and over again for guidance on how to get things done. I give the book my highest recommendation.

This is a great book for the S-Plus novice. While it doesn't cover every topic it does explain a lot of basics in easy to understand English. The examples and explanations are very informative.

If one wants to learn S-PLUS, there couldn't be a better book than this. Similar in style to Kernighan and Ritchie's books, this book is brief but covers a lot of ground. Lot of care and thought has gone into professor Phil Spector's writing and in my professional life I have always turned to this book whenever I was unable to solve any S-PLUS problem myself.

Some of the readers who have never programmed before or have been used to 1000+ pages books with zillions of screen shots and similar page fillers will find that this book will require a somewhat slower reading in the beginning to fully comprehend it. But it will be a worthwhile effort.

I have taken statistical computing courses under Phil Spector and they have been fun and this book is no different. My only regret is that he has not written books on other programming languages. (He just does not have time.) However, currently I am relearning SAS from reading his free notes (downloadable from his webpage at UCB, and I have picked up a lot in a short period of time.

Thanks Professor Spector.

Clear, concise, and to the point. Dr. Spector teaches statistics courses at UC Berkeley, and it shows.