---
title: "Introduction"
author: "NEST CoreDev"
output: rmarkdown::html_vignette
vignette: >
  %\VignetteIndexEntry{Introduction}
  %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown}
  %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
---

`teal` is an interactive data exploration framework based on Shiny, designed primarily to analyze CDISC clinical trial data.

A Shiny Application created with `teal` offers users the ability to:

- Import data from external sources;
- Dynamically filter data for analysis;
- Generate reproducible code for future analysis;
- Create and download reports of analysis results _(for analysis modules that support reporting)_.

Moreover, the `teal` framework provides application developers with a wide range of customizable standard analysis modules to integrate into their applications, along with a logging framework that facilitates debugging.
Additionally, advanced users of the framework can develop new analysis modules and easily integrate them into any `teal` application.

The `teal` framework's functionality draws heavily from the following packages:

| R package            | Description                                                             |
|----------------------|:------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|[`teal`](https://insightsengineering.github.io/teal)                     | `shiny`-based interactive exploration framework for analyzing data|
|[`teal.widgets`](https://insightsengineering.github.io/teal.widgets)     | `shiny` UI components used within `teal`|
|[`teal.data`](https://insightsengineering.github.io/teal.data)           | provides the data structure used in all `teal` applications|
|[`teal.slice`](https://insightsengineering.github.io/teal.slice)         | provides the filter panel to allow dynamic filtering of data|
|[`teal.code`](https://insightsengineering.github.io/teal.code)           | provides a mechanism for tracking code to reproduce an analysis|
|[`teal.logger`](https://insightsengineering.github.io/teal.logger)       | standardizes logging within `teal` framework|
|[`teal.reporter`](https://insightsengineering.github.io/teal.reporter)   | allows `teal` applications to generate reports|

Although these packages are mentioned in the material, we strongly recommend visiting their vignettes to learn more about them.

Learn on how to make your first `teal` application [here](../getting-started-with-teal.html)!
