[R] difference between assignment syntax <- vs =

Thomas Mang Thomas.Mang at fiwi.at
Mon Feb 23 10:20:12 CET 2009


Hi,

thanks for the link.

In the bottom part of the relevant section, you say:
"Standard advice is to avoid using '=' when you mean '<-'...."
Is this a formal, generally accepted (R community) advice, or does it 
reflect you personal opinion?
Note I am not asking this question as to criticize by any means, but 
instead I just want to know for my own work (which will be partially 
released to others) if the '<-' - style is the preferred one 
(Personally, with a strong background from other programming languages, 
I have always used '=' so far).

thanks,
Thomas



Patrick Burns wrote:
> 'The R Inferno' page 78 is one source you can
> look at.
> 
> 
> Patrick Burns
> patrick at burns-stat.com
> +44 (0)20 8525 0696
> http://www.burns-stat.com
> (home of "The R Inferno" and "A Guide for the Unwilling S User")
> 
> Thomas Mang wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Both operators <- and = can be used to make an assignment. My question 
>> is: Is there a semantic difference between these two? Some time ago, I 
>> remember I have read that because of some reason, one should be given 
>> preference over the other - but I cannot remember the source, nor the 
>> argument, nor which operator the preferred was.
>>
>> What is the present state ?
>> Is still one version better than the other, or is it only a matter of 
>> taste what to use ?
>>
>> thanks
>> Thomas
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>> PLEASE do read the posting guide 
>> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>>
>>
> 
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide 
> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>




More information about the R-help mailing list