Built-in help
The S language is extensively documented and the text returned by help(command) is well organized and cross-referenced. This built-in help system is intended to explain how specific commands should be run, given that the user knew that the function existed and understands the statistical theory behind it. To get an overview of existing functions, underlying theory, and to learn programming, there are several good books and free manuals available.
(Please save paper and don't print out long manuals, they're more useful as searchable PDF files. To download, right-click on title and "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...")
Official S-Plus manuals
Insightful. 2001. Getting started with S-Plus 6 for Windows. Seattle: Insightful. 86 pp.
Insightful. 2001. S-Plus 6 for Windows: User's guide. Seattle: Insightful. 688 pp.
Insightful. 2001. S-Plus 6 for Windows: Guide to statistics. Vol. 1. Seattle: Insightful. 712 pp.
Insightful. 2001. S-Plus 6 for Windows: Guide to statistics. Vol. 2. Seattle: Insightful. 621 pp.
Insightful. 2001. S-Plus 6 for Windows: Programmer's guide. Seattle: Insightful. 987 pp.
Official R manuals
(Updated quite frequently.)
Venables, W.N., D.M. Smith, and R Development Core Team. 2003. An introduction to R. Vienna: R Foundation. Around 100 pp.
R Development Core Team. 2003. The R environment for statistical computing and graphics: Reference index. Vienna: R Foundation. Around 1000 pp.
Selected books
(There is a wealth of books about the S language and statistics, but Crawley offers a particularly good introductory text, while Venables and Ripley write for intermediate and advanced users.)
Crawley, M.J. 2002. Statistical computing: An introduction to data analysis using S-Plus. New York: Wiley. 756 pp. (List price: $85)
Venables, W.N. and B.D. Ripley. 2002. Modern applied statistics with S. 4th ed. New York: Springer. 512 pp. (List price: $70)
Venables, W.N. and B.D. Ripley. 2000. S programming. New York: Springer. 400 pp. (List price: $60)
Notes by enthusiasts
Maindonald, J.H. 2001. Using R for data analysis and graphics: An introduction. 106 pp. (Australian National University)
Paradis, E. 2002. R for beginners. 57 pp. (Université Montpellier)
Verzani, J. 2002. simpleR: Using R for introductory statistics (0.4). 110 pp. (College of Staten Island, NY)
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