Unlocking the Power of Vectors in R

What are Vectors in R?

Vectors are the fundamental building blocks of data structures in R, allowing you to store data of similar types in a single entity. Imagine you need to record the ages of 5 employees. Instead of creating 5 separate variables, you can create a vector to store all the ages in one place.

Creating a Vector in R

To create a vector in R, you can use the c() function. For instance, you can create a vector named employees with elements “Sabby”, “Cathy”, and “Lucy”. The c() function combines these elements into a single vector.

employees <- c("Sabby", "Cathy", "Lucy")

Navigating Vector Elements

Each element in a vector is associated with a number, known as a vector index. You can access elements of a vector using this index number (1, 2, 3, and so on). For example, if you create a vector named languages, you can access its elements using the index number. Remember, in R, the vector index always starts with 1.

Modifying Vector Elements

Need to change a vector element? Simply reassign a new value to the specific index. For instance, you can change the vector element at index 2 from “Repeat” to “Sleep” by assigning a new value.

languages <- c("Python", "Repeat", "Java")
languages[2] <- "Sleep"
print(languages)

Working with Numeric Vectors

Similar to strings, you can create a numeric vector using the c() function. However, there’s a more efficient way to create a numeric sequence using the : operator. This allows you to create a vector with numerical values in sequence.

Creating a Sequence of Numbers

The : operator is a powerful tool for creating vectors with numerical values in sequence. For example, you can create a vector named numbers with numerical values from 1 to 5.

numbers <- 1:5
print(numbers)

Repeating Vectors in R

The rep() function allows you to repeat elements of vectors. You can repeat the whole vector or individual elements. For instance, you can create a numeric vector with elements 2, 4, 6 and repeat it twice.

numbers <- c(2, 4, 6)
repeated_numbers <- rep(numbers, 2)
print(repeated_numbers)

Looping Over a Vector

Need to access all elements of a vector? You can use a for loop to iterate over each element of the vector. This is particularly useful when working with large datasets.

fruits <- c("Apple", "Banana", "Cherry")
for (fruit in fruits) {
  print(fruit)
}

Finding the Length of a Vector

Finally, you can use the length() function to find the number of elements present inside a vector. This is a handy tool for understanding the size of your dataset.

fruits <- c("Apple", "Banana", "Cherry")
print(length(fruits))