In this book excerpt, learn how to import data into R from spreadsheets, HTML tables, and more.

The table below shows my favorite go-to R packages for data import, wrangling, visualization and analysis — plus a few miscellaneous tasks tossed in.

As long as two programs can both open a CSV file, they can exchange data. For example, you can save contact information from Microsoft Excel as a CSV file, and import it into the address book in ...