Computer Algebra in R Bridges a Gap Between Mathematics and Data in the Teaching of Statistics and Data Science

The capability of R to do symbolic mathematics is enhanced by the caracas package. This package uses the Python computer algebra library SymPy as a back-end but caracas is tightly integrated in the R environment, thereby enabling the R user with symbolic mathematics within R. We demonstrate how mathematics and statistics can benefit from bridging computer algebra and data via R. This is done thought a number of examples and we propose some topics for small student projects. The caracas package integrates well with e.g. Rmarkdown, and as such creation of scientific reports and teaching is supported.