Submission Group 11: CryptocurrencyEDAr (R)

name: CryptocurrencyEDAr about: An R package for simple exploratory data analysis of historical cryptocurrency prices and performance.

Submitting Author Name (Github Handle):

Berkay Bulut (@berkaybulut)
Cici Du (@ciciecho-ds)
Alex Yinan Guo (@alexYinanGu0)
Nobby Nguyen (@nobbynguyen)

Repository: https://github.com/UBC-MDS/CryptocurrencyEDAr Version submitted: 0.1.1 Submission type: Standard Editor: TBD Reviewers:

Navya Dahiya
Dongxiao Li
Kyle Maj
Michelle Wang

Archive: TBD Version accepted: TBD Language: en

Paste the full DESCRIPTION file inside a code block below:

Package: CryptocurrencyEDAr
Title: Analyze Historical Cryptocurrency Prices and Performance 
Version: 0.0.0.9000
Authors@R: 
    person(given = "Berkay",
           family = "Bulut",, 
           "mberkaybulut@gmail.com", 
           role = c("aut", "cre"))
    person(given = "Cici",
           family = "Du",, 
           "cicidhz@gmail.com", 
           role = c("aut", "cre"))
    person(given = "Yinan",
           family = "Guo",, 
           "alex.yinan.guo@gmail.com", 
           role = c("aut", "cre"))
    person(given = "Nobby",
           family = "Nguyen",,
           "thungoct283@gmail.com", 
           role = c("aut", "cre"))
Description: This is an R package to analyze historical cryptocurrency prices
  and performance through simple exploratory data analysis including calculations 
  and plotting. Data is sourced from the KuCoin API. 
  Cryptocurrency investors and enthusiasts can use this package to analyze 
  cryptocurrencies of interest.
License: MIT + file LICENSE
Encoding: UTF-8
LazyData: true
Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
RoxygenNote: 7.1.2
Suggests: 
    testthat (>= 3.0.0)
Config/testthat/edition: 3
Imports: 
    ggplot2,
    httr,
    Hmisc,
    jsonlite,
    stringr,
    anytime,
    rlang

Scope

Please indicate which category or categories from our package fit policies this package falls under: (Please check an appropriate box below. If you are unsure, we suggest you make a pre-submission inquiry.):
- [x] data retrieval
- [ ] data extraction
- [ ] data munging
- [ ] data deposition
- [ ] workflow automation
- [ ] version control
- [ ] citation management and bibliometrics
- [ ] scientific software wrappers
- [ ] field and lab reproducibility tools
- [ ] database software bindings
- [ ] geospatial data
- [ ] text analysis
Explain how and why the package falls under these categories (briefly, 1-2 sentences): The cryptocurrencyeda package retrieves data and provides visualization and simple calculations for cryptocurrency data.
Who is the target audience and what are scientific applications of this package? Cryptocurrency investors and enthusiasts can use this package to analyze cryptocurrencies of interest.
Are there other R packages that accomplish the same thing? If so, how does yours differ or meet our criteria for best-in-category? There are existing R packages that support users to access information of cryptocurrency such as crypto, crypto2 and coinmarketcapr. Among these 3 packages, only coinmarketcapr provides visualization of top currency. Indeed , there is no integrated R package for retrieving, analyzing, and visualizing cryptocurrency data altogether. Therefore, we want to build a simple tool that can facilitate simple cryptocurrency data analysis all at once.
(If applicable) Does your package comply with our guidance around Ethics, Data Privacy and Human Subjects Research?
If you made a pre-submission inquiry, please paste the link to the corresponding issue, forum post, or other discussion, or @tag the editor you contacted.
Explain reasons for any pkgcheck items which your package is unable to pass.

Technical checks

Confirm each of the following by checking the box.

[x] I have read the guide for authors and rOpenSci packaging guide.

This package:

[x] does not violate the Terms of Service of any service it interacts with.
[x] has a CRAN and OSI accepted license.
[x] contains a README with instructions for installing the development version.
[x] includes documentation with examples for all functions, created with roxygen2.
[ ] contains a vignette with examples of its essential functions and uses.
[x] has a test suite.
[x] has continuous integration, including reporting of test coverage using services such as Travis CI, Coveralls and/or CodeCov.

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[ ] Do you intend for this package to go on Bioconductor?
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- [ ] The package is novel and will be of interest to the broad readership of the journal. - [ ] The manuscript describing the package is no longer than 3000 words. - [ ] You intend to archive the code for the package in a long-term repository which meets the requirements of the journal (see [MEE's Policy on Publishing Code](http://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)2041-210X/journal-resources/policy-on-publishing-code.html)) - (*Scope: Do consider MEE's [Aims and Scope](http://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)2041-210X/aims-and-scope/read-full-aims-and-scope.html) for your manuscript. We make no guarantee that your manuscript will be within MEE scope.*) - (*Although not required, we strongly recommend having a full manuscript prepared when you submit here.*) - (*Please do not submit your package separately to Methods in Ecology and Evolution*)

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Package Review

Please check off boxes as applicable, and elaborate in comments below. Your review is not limited to these topics, as described in the reviewer guide

Briefly describe any working relationship you have (had) with the package authors.
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Documentation

The package includes all the following forms of documentation:

[x] A statement of need: clearly stating problems the software is designed to solve and its target audience in README
[x] Installation instructions: for the development version of package and any non-standard dependencies in README
[x] Vignette(s): demonstrating major functionality that runs successfully locally
[x] Function Documentation: for all exported functions
[x] Examples: (that run successfully locally) for all exported functions
[x] Community guidelines: including contribution guidelines in the README or CONTRIBUTING, and DESCRIPTION with URL, BugReports and Maintainer (which may be autogenerated via Authors@R).

Functionality

[x] Installation: Installation succeeds as documented.
[x] Functionality: Any functional claims of the software been confirmed.
[x] Performance: Any performance claims of the software been confirmed.
[x] Automated tests: Unit tests cover essential functions of the package and a reasonable range of inputs and conditions. All tests pass on the local machine.
[x] Packaging guidelines: The package conforms to the rOpenSci packaging guidelines.

Estimated hours spent reviewing: 1 hour

[x] Should the author(s) deem it appropriate, I agree to be acknowledged as a package reviewer ("rev" role) in the package DESCRIPTION file.

Review Comments

Great job on the R package! Just like the Python one, this would be very useful for exploring crypto pricing data and useful for investors who may be interested to invest in crypto. Here are some suggestions on how to improve some aspects of the package:

The usage portion says to use 'load_all' but I believe it should be just library(your package) because when I tried the 'load_all' code it didn't work for me. Whereas calling the library directly works.
The description of how the data is pulled from the API can be further elaborated and explained, so that users know which variables, what source and what nature of data it is referring to. Also, include explanation of whether this package work on other crypto data or even stock data, etc.
You could maybe add in some reference site for users to figure out where to call the symbols for cryptocurrency for input into the retrieve_data function.
The usage explanation for functions can be a bit clearer especially for newbies to R, and maybe use some highlighting or separation for 4 functions where the functions are being used in the examples (since now it seems like they're all smooshed up together in the code and not super clearly separated).
daily_growth_rate and plotting function has a lot of potential to extend into a more investment-oriented plot like highlighting areas on plot which show a growth potential so users can use that for making decisions.

Package Review

Please check off boxes as applicable, and elaborate in comments below. Your review is not limited to these topics, as described in the reviewer guide

Briefly describe any working relationship you have (had) with the package authors.
[x] As the reviewer I confirm that there are no conflicts of interest for me to review this work (if you are unsure whether you are in conflict, please speak to your editor before starting your review).

Documentation

The package includes all the following forms of documentation:

[x] A statement of need: clearly stating problems the software is designed to solve and its target audience in README
[x] Installation instructions: for the development version of package and any non-standard dependencies in README
[x] Vignette(s): demonstrating major functionality that runs successfully locally
[x] Function Documentation: for all exported functions
[x] Examples: (that run successfully locally) for all exported functions
[x] Community guidelines: including contribution guidelines in the README or CONTRIBUTING, and DESCRIPTION with URL, BugReports and Maintainer (which may be autogenerated via Authors@R).

Functionality

[x] Installation: Installation succeeds as documented.
[x] Functionality: Any functional claims of the software been confirmed.
[x] Performance: Any performance claims of the software been confirmed.
[x] Automated tests: Unit tests cover essential functions of the package and a reasonable range of inputs and conditions. All tests pass on the local machine.
[x] Packaging guidelines: The package conforms to the rOpenSci packaging guidelines.

Estimated hours spent reviewing: 0.5 hours

[x] Should the author(s) deem it appropriate, I agree to be acknowledged as a package reviewer ("rev" role) in the package DESCRIPTION file.

Review Comments

The usage instruction in README and the example usage in vignettes are kind of different. The load_all did not work but library(CryptocurrencyEDAr) worked. Better to update the README for consistency.
It should be better to put the vignette link (https://ubc-mds.github.io/CryptocurrencyEDAr/articles/CryptocurrencyEDAr-vignette.html) on the top right corner of the public repo for easier reference! should be a quick fix.
Your test coverage is 96%, it is pretty high which indicated that you tested almost everything item in your function. Could be better to write one or two more to reach 100%.
You only mentioned that Data is sourced from the KuCoin API. but it could be better to elaborate more about the KuCoin API in the document for users who are not so familiar with this kind of information.
Similarly, you can also plot the daily growth rate for users in R (can be a new function in the future). Overall, it is a good function. Nice job!

Package Review

Please check off boxes as applicable, and elaborate in comments below. Your review is not limited to these topics, as described in the reviewer guide

Briefly describe any working relationship you have (had) with the package authors.
[x] As the reviewer I confirm that there are no conflicts of interest for me to review this work (if you are unsure whether you are in conflict, please speak to your editor before starting your review).

Documentation

The package includes all the following forms of documentation:

[x] A statement of need: clearly stating problems the software is designed to solve and its target audience in README
[x] Installation instructions: for the development version of package and any non-standard dependencies in README
[x] Vignette(s): demonstrating major functionality that runs successfully locally
[x] Function Documentation: for all exported functions
[x] Examples: (that run successfully locally) for all exported functions
[x] Community guidelines: including contribution guidelines in the README or CONTRIBUTING, and DESCRIPTION with URL, BugReports and Maintainer (which may be autogenerated via Authors@R).

Functionality

[x] Installation: Installation succeeds as documented.
[x] Functionality: Any functional claims of the software been confirmed.
[x] Performance: Any performance claims of the software been confirmed.
[x] Automated tests: Unit tests cover essential functions of the package and a reasonable range of inputs and conditions. All tests pass on the local machine.
[x] Packaging guidelines: The package conforms to the rOpenSci packaging guidelines.

Estimated hours spent reviewing: 45 mins

[x] Should the author(s) deem it appropriate, I agree to be acknowledged as a package reviewer ("rev" role) in the package DESCRIPTION file.

Review Comments

Interesting package and good work team!! The package functions are working and are easy to use
The usage section indicates to use load_all(), which didn't work for me, instead library(CryptocurrencyEDAr) worked, which you can update in your README
It would be better if you could return the value fromavg_daily_return function as a decimal value rounded off to 2-3 decimal places for better interpretability
The badges for CodeCov and CI pipeline are included, which gives a view to the user
The documentation links are not clickable in the rendered website of your documentation, I think your github pages are not being rendered on each push to main branch, kindly check if that is the case

the plot is missing from the documentation under Reference section in the documentation https://ubc-mds.github.io/CryptocurrencyEDAr/reference/plot_price.html

It would be great if other team members' names are also mentioned here. For that you will have to change the role description in the DESCRIPTION file
You could also plot the daily growth rate for users in R, for better visualisation

Good work team!!

Package Review

Please check off boxes as applicable, and elaborate in comments below. Your review is not limited to these topics, as described in the reviewer guide

Briefly describe any working relationship you have (had) with the package authors.
[x] As the reviewer I confirm that there are no conflicts of interest for me to review this work (if you are unsure whether you are in conflict, please speak to your editor before starting your review).

Documentation

The package includes all the following forms of documentation:

[x] A statement of need: clearly stating problems the software is designed to solve and its target audience in README
[x] Installation instructions: for the development version of package and any non-standard dependencies in README
[x] Vignette(s): demonstrating major functionality that runs successfully locally
[x] Function Documentation: for all exported functions
[x] Examples: (that run successfully locally) for all exported functions
[x] Community guidelines: including contribution guidelines in the README or CONTRIBUTING, and DESCRIPTION with URL, BugReports and Maintainer (which may be autogenerated via Authors@R).

Functionality

[x] Installation: Installation succeeds as documented.
[x] Functionality: Any functional claims of the software been confirmed.
[x] Performance: Any performance claims of the software been confirmed.
[x] Automated tests: Unit tests cover essential functions of the package and a reasonable range of inputs and conditions. All tests pass on the local machine.
[x] Packaging guidelines: The package conforms to the rOpenSci packaging guidelines.

Estimated hours spent reviewing: 1.5

[x] Should the author(s) deem it appropriate, I agree to be acknowledged as a package reviewer ("rev" role) in the package DESCRIPTION file.

Review Comments

As other reviewers have noted, you may want to update the usage section of your readme to exclude devtools::load_all(). I believe that this command only works when executed from the project repository itself and could be confusing for new users.
retrieve_data: this is really cool! The one suggestion I have would be to expand a bit on the documentation. While docstrings are intended to be brief they should also eliminate as much guesswork as possible for the user. For example, if a user wanted to change the time period what formats are acceptable? "0.5day", "2day", "2days", "1/2day", "1week"?
plot_price: You may want to update the example for this function, when I try to run it I consistently get the following error: "geom_path: Each group consists of only one observation. Do you need to adjust the group aesthetic?". Also, as this example is the base-case that most people will be using to test and understand the function, it may be preferable to have more than two data points in price_df.
daily_growth_rate:
- There is a small grammatical error in the docstring line "a string indicate the column holding daily closing price data.". This should probably read "a string indicating the column holding daily closing price data.".
- What are the units of the daily growth rate?
- You may want to incorporate a test to ensure that the days in the given df are consecutive, or state this is a requirement in the docstring.
avg_daily_return:
- Similarly to the previous function, what units is the average daily return in? New users will probably assume it is a percentage given that is what daily_growth_rate appears to output.
- Given time, you may want to add more than one test for exception handling. What would happen if a user inputted a vector with only one value?
- If I am understanding this function correctly I believe that it is important for prices to be given in chronological order and spaced by 1 day. You may want to indicate this in the functions description or enforce it with tests.
As retrieve_data seems to be the intended method of creating that data frames to be used in the other functions you may want to mention it in their documentation and/or examples.
Really liked this project overall. While I was able to find some minor docstring stuff your overall foundation and functionality is solid! Credit to you as well for your choice of subject matter. Speaking from experience, I can attest to the fact that working with financial data can be very complicated.

UBC-MDS / software-review-2022