I don't really understand the need for a compiler in R. All the main packages that have to do any heavy lifting have had their functions outsourced to fortran or C decades ago.
R is also thriving in bioinformatics with Python trailing behind as an afterthought. I think the main reason why R is fading is simply why some other languages fade: fashion, and prestige of the new masters (read: professor X in field Y likes esoteric language Z, so his grad students write out libraries A/B/C to corner the Z library space, and professor X gets more clout than he ever would in a default language).
R is also thriving in bioinformatics with Python trailing behind as an afterthought. I think the main reason why R is fading is simply why some other languages fade: fashion, and prestige of the new masters (read: professor X in field Y likes esoteric language Z, so his grad students write out libraries A/B/C to corner the Z library space, and professor X gets more clout than he ever would in a default language).