[R] Opinion: Why I find factors convenient to use

[S Ellison]

>> on the whole, it seems to me that character 
>> input gets used as factor data so much of the time when it is 
>> used at all that the default stringsAsFactors=TRUE setting 
>> seems the more sensible default.
> 
> I disagree with this last point. Just think of the number of 
> questions to this list about, say, dates. 

Mileage on this issue is likely to vary within and between useRs. 

For a more than anecdotal answer to the question of whether 'on the whole', character input gets used as factor data, one would have to construct a more careful survey than this. 

S Ellison

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