Thirteen Simple Steps for Creating An R Package with an External C++ Library

TL;DR

This paper provides a step-by-step guide for creating an R package that integrates external C++ libraries, demonstrated through the development of the 'RcppCorels' package for a machine learning library.

Contribution

It introduces a clear, practical methodology for extending R with C++ code using Rcpp, exemplified by a new package for interpretable rule lists.

Findings

Developed 'RcppCorels' package for rule list models

Provided a set of simple, actionable steps for R-C++ package integration

Demonstrated the process with a concrete machine learning example

Abstract

We desribe how we extend R with an external C++ code library by using the Rcpp package. Our working example uses the recent machine learning library and application 'Corels' providing optimal yet easily interpretable rule lists <arXiv:1704.01701> which we bring to R in the form of the 'RcppCorels' package. We discuss each step in the process, and derive a set of simple rules and recommendations which are illustrated with the concrete example.