Jonathan
jmcphers.bsky.social
Jonathan
@jmcphers.bsky.social
Software architect @posit.co. Also music, kids, books, bicycling, and goodness knows what else. Opinions my own. He/him
My keynote about data science tools at posit::conf is now online! I originally meant it to be a talk about Positron, but as I was writing it, it took a left turn through the history of RStudio and into the philosophy of tool design & how to build stuff for people.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGre...
10 Years of Data Science Tools...and What Happens Next (Jonathan McPherson) | posit::conf(2025)
YouTube video by Posit PBC
www.youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
Is #Positron going to replace #RStudio? 😱 (This is the worry I keep hearing lately 👀)

Posit Software Architect @jmcphers.bsky.social says, "there are certainly no plans to get rid of RStudio."

Watch the full #DSHangout video with Jonathan here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sROVZ83FNg

#rstats #databs
October 8, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
Ever wonder how the #tidyverse came to be? 🤔

#TheTestSet's first episode features @hadley.nz on his accidental empire of #RStats packages, bear encounters, and more!

Stream it at thetestset.co, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

#DataAnalytics #PodcastLaunch
July 1, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
Positron now supports a chat panel with Claude and it's pretty neat
June 4, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Reposted by Jonathan
TOMORROW IS A BIG #DSHANGOUT! We have 2 featured leaders, & they're both keynote speakers at #positconf2025 😍

Thurs May 29 @ 12pm ET meet:

👋🏼 Kieran Healy, professor of sociology at Duke
👋🏼 Jonathan McPherson, software architect at Posit

📆 Add to your calendar @ pos.it/dsh

#databs #rstats #python
May 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
We're delighted to announce Jonathan McPherson – software architect at Posit – as keynote speaker at posit::conf(2025)!

If you're curious about how thoughtful design principles can improve the data science tools you use, you won't want to miss this!

Join us Sep 16-18 in Atlanta. pos.it/conf
March 20, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
@lionelhenry.bsky.social and I are so excited to finally announce Air - an extremely fast R code formatter! 🎉

With Air, you'll never need to worry about styling your #rstats code ever again. All you need to do is save, and Air takes care of the rest.

www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/02...
Air, an extremely fast R formatter
We are thrilled to announce Air, a new R formatter.
www.tidyverse.org
February 21, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Talks from posit::conf 2024 are all online! Here's what I've been working on for the last couple of years.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uRc...
Introducing Positron, a new data science IDE - posit conf 2024
YouTube video by Posit PBC
www.youtube.com
October 31, 2024 at 3:11 PM
5 year old: What's happening, big guy?

Me: Don't call me "big guy." It's kinda weird.

5 year old: You'll get used to it, big guy.
May 31, 2024 at 4:48 PM
12 year old: *shows me an elaborate PowerPoint presentation he made for a game show called "The Rice is Right", in which contestants must watch a short, close-up video clip of a granular substance and guess whether it is rice*

Me:

12 year old: This idea came to me in a dream
May 15, 2024 at 4:08 PM
Buck up, baby blowfish. Just puff up bigger than your sadness and scare it right off. That's the only way to live in the awful old ocean.

-- Cathrynne M. Valente, Radiance
February 21, 2024 at 10:44 PM
While I identify as a Christian, I think the #HeGetsUs #SuperBowl ads were awful. I don't think Jesus needs or wants our slick marketing campaigns. It cheapens the Man of Sorrows to put him on billboards and bumper stickers.

He isn't a product.
February 12, 2024 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
2 hours left on the Terry Pratchett humble bundle. All the ebooks for the cost of one hardback. You may want this...
5 hours left right now to get all but 2 for $18.
www.humblebundle.com/books/terry-...
February 1, 2024 at 6:01 PM
Dear Manufacturers of Children's Drinkware and Manufacturers of Garbage Disposals,

One of you needs to change the diameter of your product. I don't care who.

Sincerely,
Every Parent in the World
January 16, 2024 at 4:42 PM
If you're working on software meant to last a long time, use long, unique names for all non-local identifiers (functions, classes, etc.).

Future You is gonna need to find references, and Future You is only going to be able to use "find string".
January 10, 2024 at 11:34 PM
Hello, world.
January 2, 2024 at 7:30 PM