Vector Is Not a Data Type

Q

Is Vector a Data Type?

✍: FYIcenter.com

A

No. Technically, "Vector" is not a data type. In R, all data items are technically "vectors".

In other words, everything is a vector in R. There is no "scalar" data. This is why data "3" is printed out as "[1] 3" on the console, indicating that "3" is a vector of 1 member:

> 3
[1] 3

The following two data items, 3 and c(3), have the same data type, a single-component "double":

> i = 3
> i
[1] 3

> typeof(i)
[1] "double"

> i == 3
[1] TRUE

> is.vector(i)
[1] TRUE

> j = c(3)
> j
[1] 3

> typeof(j)
[1] "double"

> j == 3
[1] TRUE

> is.vector(j)
[1] TRUE

Also note that v[i] returns a single-component vector.

> v = c("Apple", "Banana", "Orange")
> v[2]
[1] "Banana"

> is.vector(v[2])
[1] TRUE

> typeof(v[2])
[1] "character"

> v2 = v[2]
> v2[1]
[1] "Banana"

 

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2023-06-11, 359🔥, 0💬