What is Rook?
Rook is a web server interface for R, written by Jeffrey Horner, the author of rApache and brew. But unlike other web frameworks for R, such as brew, R.rsp (which I have used in the past1), Rserve, gWidgetWWWW or sumo (which I haven't used yet) Rook appears incredible lightweight.
Rook doesn't need any configuration. It is an R package, which works out of the box with the R HTTP server (R ≥ 2.13.0 required). That means no configuration files are needed. No files have to be placed in particular folders, and I don't have to worry about access permissions. Instead, I can run web applications on my local desktop.
 |
| Screen shot of a Rook app running in a browser |
Web applications have the big advantage that they run in a browser and hence are somewhat independent of the operating systems and installed software. All I need is R and a web browser. But here is the catch: I have to learn a little bit about the HTTP protocol to develop Rook apps.
