Today, Microsoft and DataCamp launched an exciting new course on edX.org covering the basics of the statistical programming language R. This four week course is free for everyone, and no prior knowledge in programming or data science is required.Make sure to watch the course promotion video:What sets this Introduction to R course apart from the traditional massive open online course is its focus on learning-by-doing. Instead of passively watching videos, you will continuously practice your newly acquired skills through interactive in-browser coding challenges using the DataCamp platform. The learning environment will provide you with instant and personalized feedback, thereby guiding you to the correct solution. Experiment with the different aspects of the R language in real time, and prepare yourself  to undertake your own first data analysis using R.The course has seven sections, spread over four weeks, and the main goal is to make you familiar with R’s basic syntax. Starting from variables and basic operations, you will learn in the different sections how to handle data structures such as vectors, matrices, data frames and lists. In the final section you will even dive deeper into the graphical capabilities of R, and create your own stunning data visualizations.edX is one of the largest online course providers in the world, and this initiative shows Microsoft’s commitment to R’s open source community and its endeavors to support the democratization of R. Register for free!