pip should work out of the box:
pip install rpy2
The package is known to compile on Linux, MacOSX, and Windows (provided that developper tools are installed, and you are ready figure out how by yourself).
Alternatively, there is a Docker image available to try rpy2 out without concerns about the installation process.
To run the ipython console:
docker run -it --rm -p 8888:8888 rpy2/jupyter:2.9.x ipython
To run jupypter notebook on port 8888:
docker run --rm -p 8888:8888 rpy2/jupyter:2.9.x
More information about Docker images can be found in the documentation.
In case you find yourself with this source without any idea of what it takes to compile anything on your platform, try first
python setup.py install
If this fails, consider looking for pre-compiled binaries (they are available on Linux Red Hat, CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, etc...) or using the matching Docker container.
Note that python setup.py develop will appear to work, but will result in an installation from the rpy directory here. The namespaces will be incorrect, so don't do that!
Documentation is available either in the source tree (to be built), or online (on readthedocs).
rpy2 is now relying on pytest, with the plugin pytest-cov for code coverage. To test the package from the source tree, either to check and installation on your system or before submitting a pull request, do:
pytest tests/
For code coverage, do:
pytest --cov=rpy2.rinterface_lib --cov=rpy2.rinterface --cov=rpy2.ipython --cov=rpy2.robject tests
For more options, such as how to run specify tests, please refer to the pytest documentation.
RPy2 can be used under the terms of the GNU General Public License Version 2 or later (see the file gpl-2.0.txt). This is the very same license R itself is released under.