Shiny modules for beginners

I’ve seen some discussion on the Internet about whether people learning Shiny should start with modules or if they’re an advanced topic. I’m not going to link to any examples because this post is definitely not me saying- hey look at this rubbish over here, here’s why it’s wrong. I’ve seen a couple of posts talking about it. But I just thought I would chip in my perspective.

I really love modules and they solve a lot of problems, and I think they could be a great thing for a beginner to learn. No reason at all why beginners can’t learn them. The only caution I would give those learners is that some things can be weird or fiddly with modules. So if you’re learning at your own pace, and want to do everything really neatly and use industry standards, great, go for it. But if you want to throw up a Shiny application to impress your boss (for example) and learn by doing then you may find yourself going down some very long, dark rabbit holes trying to get the particular thing you want working. (and yes, I am writing this post now because I have been down a few myself recently 😀)

As I say, purely my perspective generated from sitting at my keyboard and interacting regularly with maybe five people learning Shiny. Your mileage may vary