Target Audience
Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, or Computer Engineering students with an interest in programming languages, operating systems, and community-driven open-source software.
Description
This project aims to significantly enhance the support for running R packages on Windows 11 for Arm64 (WoA) by identifying and contributing bug fixes / improvements to the relevant parts of the R community (e.g., CRAN/Bioconductor packages or even R Core / Rtools etc.). The project’s goals include:
- Identifying CRAN and Bioconductor packages lacking Windows/Arm64 support.
- Proposing and testing patches upstream for R packages that fail to build or run on WoA.
- Engaging with the R development community via the Windows Special interest group, R-SIG-windows, R-Package-Devel mailing list or the informal R Contributors Slack and following the R Contribution Guide to submit high-quality patches.
- Reporting new issues, requesting comments on proposed patches, documenting process via Bugzilla and reviewing existing issues through the bug tracker
- Tracking CI coverage for recently announced public preview of Windows11-Arm64 GitHub-hosted runners and potentially proposing GitHub Actions or GitLab CI templates to automate WoA builds.
Stretch Objectives:
- Identifying, Analyzing and fixing compatibility issues in base R and Rtools for the Windows/Arm64 environment. This may involve waiting for improved upstream support from GCC for Windows-AArch64. A summary and progress is available here.
Deliverables:
- Patches, request for comments and bug reports the highest impact packages
- A curated list of packages with proposed WoA support status
- A short technical write-up describing the contributions and challenges
Hardware / Software Requirements
- Languages: R
- Tooling: Rtools, Git, Bugzilla, Windows 11 on Arm device, GitHub CI/CD, optional Docker for cross-compilation
- Arm64 Windows device or Access to virtualized WoA platforms via Linaro’s Windows on Arm Environments.
Resources
- R Contribution Guide
- R Bugzilla
- Rtools for Windows
- Bioconductor Build Reports
- Package installation results for CRAN and Bioconductor packages
Benefits / Prizes
- Standout projects could be internally referred for relevant positions at Arm! 📃
- If your submission is approved, you could receive a recognised badge that you can list on your CV and share on LinkedIn. A great way to stand out from the crowd! 🎓
- It’s a great way to demonstrate your initiative and commitment to your field.
- It offers the opportunity to learn valuable skills that are highly relevant to a successful career at Arm! 🎉