docs/dev/r/index.md

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# arrow ![](https://arrow.apache.org/img/arrow-logo_hex_black-txt_white-bg.png)

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## Overview

The R [arrow](https://github.com/apache/arrow/) package provides access
to many of the features of the [Apache Arrow C++
library](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/cpp/index.html) for R users. The
goal of arrow is to provide an Arrow C++ backend to
[dplyr](https://dplyr.tidyverse.org), and access to the Arrow C++
library through familiar base R and tidyverse functions, or
[R6](https://r6.r-lib.org) classes. The dedicated R package website is
located [here](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/r/index.html).

To learn more about the Apache Arrow project, see the documentation of
the parent [Arrow Project](https://arrow.apache.org/). The Arrow project
provides functionality for a wide range of data analysis tasks to store,
process and move data fast. See the [read/write
article](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/r/articles/read_write.html) to
learn about reading and writing data files, [data
wrangling](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/r/articles/data_wrangling.html)
to learn how to use dplyr syntax with arrow objects, and the [function
documentation](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/r/reference/acero.html) for
a full list of supported functions within dplyr queries.

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## Installation

The latest release of arrow can be installed from CRAN. In most cases
installing the latest release should work without requiring any
additional system dependencies, especially if you are using Windows or
macOS.

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``` r
install.packages("arrow")
```

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If you are having trouble installing from CRAN, then we offer two
alternative install options for grabbing the latest arrow release.
First, [R-universe](https://r-universe.dev/) provides pre-compiled
binaries for the most commonly used operating systems.[¹](#fn1)

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``` r
install.packages("arrow", repos = c("https://apache.r-universe.dev", "https://cloud.r-project.org"))
```

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Second, if you are using conda then you can install arrow from
conda-forge.

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``` sh
conda install -c conda-forge --strict-channel-priority r-arrow
```

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There are some special cases to note:

-   On macOS, the R you use with Arrow should match the architecture of
    the machine you are using. If you’re using an ARM (aka M1, M2, etc.)
    processor use R compiled for arm64. If you’re using an Intel based
    mac, use R compiled for x86. Using R and Arrow compiled for Intel
    based macs on an ARM based mac will result in segfaults and crashes.

-   On Linux the installation process can sometimes be more involved
    because CRAN does not host binaries for Linux. For more information
    please see the [installation
    guide](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/r/articles/install.html).

-   If you are compiling arrow from source, please note that as of
    version 10.0.0, arrow requires C++17 to build. This has implications
    on Windows and CentOS 7. For Windows users it means you need to be
    running an R version of 4.0 or later. On CentOS 7, it means you need
    to install a newer compiler than the default system compiler gcc.
    See the [installation details
    article](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/r/articles/developers/install_details.html)
    for guidance.

-   Development versions of arrow are released nightly. For information
    on how to install nightly builds please see the [installing nightly
    builds](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/r/articles/install_nightly.html)
    article.

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## What can the arrow package do?

The Arrow C++ library is comprised of different parts, each of which
serves a specific purpose. The arrow package provides binding to the C++
functionality for a wide range of data analysis tasks.

It allows users to read and write data in a variety formats:

-   Read and write Parquet files, an efficient and widely used columnar
    format
-   Read and write Arrow (formerly known as Feather) files, a format
    optimized for speed and interoperability
-   Read and write CSV files with excellent speed and efficiency
-   Read and write multi-file and larger-than-memory datasets
-   Read JSON files

It provides access to remote filesystems and servers:

-   Read and write files in Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage buckets
-   Connect to Arrow Flight servers to transport large datasets over
    networks

Additional features include:

-   Manipulate and analyze Arrow data with dplyr verbs
-   Zero-copy data sharing between R and Python
-   Fine control over column types to work seamlessly with databases and
    data warehouses
-   Toolkit for building connectors to other applications and services
    that use Arrow

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## What is Apache Arrow?

Apache Arrow is a cross-language development platform for in-memory and
larger-than-memory data. It specifies a standardized
language-independent columnar memory format for flat and hierarchical
data, organized for efficient analytic operations on modern hardware. It
also provides computational libraries and zero-copy streaming,
messaging, and interprocess communication.

This package exposes an interface to the Arrow C++ library, enabling
access to many of its features in R. It provides low-level access to the
Arrow C++ library API and higher-level access through a dplyr backend
and familiar R functions.

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## Arrow resources

There are a few additional resources that you may find useful for
getting started with arrow:

-   The official [Arrow R package
    documentation](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/r/)
-   [Scaling Up With R and Arrow](https://arrowrbook.com)
-   [Arrow for R
    cheatsheet](https://github.com/apache/arrow/blob/-/r/cheatsheet/arrow-cheatsheet.pdf)
-   [Apache Arrow R
    Cookbook](https://arrow.apache.org/cookbook/r/index.html)
-   R for Data Science [Chapter on Arrow](https://r4ds.hadley.nz/arrow)
-   [Awesome Arrow R](https://github.com/thisisnic/awesome-arrow-r)

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## Getting help

We welcome questions, discussion, and contributions from users of the
arrow package. For information about mailing lists and other venues for
engaging with the Arrow developer and user communities, please see the
[Apache Arrow Community](https://arrow.apache.org/community/) page.

If you encounter a bug, please file an issue with a minimal reproducible
example on [GitHub issues](https://github.com/apache/arrow/issues). Log
in to your GitHub account, click on **New issue** and select the type of
issue you want to create. Add a meaningful title prefixed with **`[R]`**
followed by a space, the issue summary and select component **R** from
the dropdown list. For more information, see the **Report bugs and
propose features** section of the [Contributing to Apache
Arrow](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/developers/#contributing) page in
the Arrow developer documentation.

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## Code of Conduct

Please note that all participation in the Apache Arrow project is
governed by the Apache Software Foundation’s [code of
conduct](https://www.apache.org/foundation/policies/conduct.html).

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<div id="footnotes" class="section footnotes footnotes-end-of-document"
role="doc-endnotes">

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1.  <div id="fn1">

    Linux users should consult the R-universe
    [documentation](https://docs.r-universe.dev/install/binaries.html)
    for guidance on the exact repo URL path and potential limitations.

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