Difference between R MarkDown and R NoteBook

Question

I am trying to understand at a high level what the differences between R Markdown and R NoteBook. I know they are interrelated but I would like to figu

Answer 1

Similarites: The R notebook and R Markdown document are pretty much similar. Markdown format works in both file types. Both the file formats can be used for communicating code along with results and commentary to others. One can choose to knit the created document to HTML, PDF and WORD output formats. If there is an error in the code, output will not be generated. To run the file: CTRL+SHIFT+K and to insert code chunk: CTRL+ALT+I.

R Markdown document: The Rmd document can be configured via a wizard and has options for reproducibilty document, presentation slides, shiny app etc and an option to create document from a template. If you change the code, the ouput is executed in the Rmd output. It does not offer the option to Preview the document. The YAML header has output format as: output: html_document

R Notebook Document: The R nb document is launched directly and no wizard (as in the case of .RMD) appears. Along with the notebook file, an additional html file that extension *.nb.html is generated. The notebook has the option for Preview. If any code is altered or edited, the new output is not shown. The output is shown in the code editor itself. Whatever the old output was it is only rendered. No new output is generated from the code change. In order to show the code output, we need to execute the chunk and then it will appear in the output. The YAML header has output as: output: html_notebook

YAML header : If we change the YAML header from one file to another, it will change the type of the document. For instance, you have a R notebook that has YAML header as html_notebook. If you change the YAML header, your R notebook will be converted to R Markdown document.

If you have to choose one, go with RMarkdown document as it offers more control and updates documents as soon as you knit it.