Reporting with R Markdown / Quarto

An analysis isn't done until it's communicated. R Markdown and Quarto are R's reproducible reporting tools — a single document combining narrative, code, and output, rendered to HTML, PDF, or Word.

R Markdown — the original

---
title: "Kenyan banking spread analysis"
author: "You"
output: html_document
---

## Introduction

We analyse 21 months of commercial bank lending rates...

```{r}
library(dplyr)
library(ggplot2)

bankrates |>
    mutate(spread = lending_rate - deposit_rate) |>
    summarise(mean_spread = mean(spread))
```

The mean spread is shown above.

The .Rmd file mixes Markdown narrative with code chunks. When you knit (Ctrl+Shift+K in RStudio), R runs every chunk in order and produces the rendered output document.

Quarto — the modern successor

Quarto is R Markdown's successor, by the same team. It supports R, Python, and Julia equally; it has more output formats; and it ships with a smarter default theme. The syntax is nearly identical (.qmd files); migration is trivial. New projects should default to Quarto.

Code chunks — options

```{r my-chunk, echo = FALSE, message = FALSE, warning = FALSE, fig.width = 8}
# echo = FALSE: don't show the code, only the output
# message/warning = FALSE: suppress noise
# fig.width: chart dimensions
```

Parameterised reports

You can parameterise a Quarto/Rmd document — pass values in via YAML or the command line — to produce country-specific or period-specific versions of the same report. Useful for monthly economic updates.

When to use Quarto vs a Shiny app

Quarto: a static rendered document, refreshed on a schedule. Shiny: interactive — sliders and dropdowns drive a live recomputation. Quarto for reports; Shiny for tools.