I use R, and I still use ad-hoc commands from time to time too. I guess mlr and xsv lie somewhere between, which I've personally never really considered. R is

I use R, and I still use ad-hoc commands from time to time too. I guess mlr and xsv lie somewhere between, which I've personally never really considered. R is specifically designed for manipulating datasets though, and has a lot more functionality/dependencies. If you're already familiar with the language, and okay with the dependencies, it is vastly more powerful, more succinct, and arguably easier to use. Otherwise, something in between probably still makes sense.