[R] Basic question about: <<- and method start with dot.

[peter dalgaard]

On Oct 2, 2012, at 13:35 , Hadley Wickham wrote:

>>> What is the special meaning for the method name start with a dot?
>> 
>> It means nothing in particular, except that such objects don't show up in ls() by default. The _intention_ is usually that the function is only to be used internally and not for end-user use.
> 
> But these days, if you're writing a package, you're better off using namespaces.

Sure, but that doesn't keep package writers from using that kind of naming convention for non-exported objects. (Notice that this started as a question about reading 3rd party source codes.)

-- 
Peter Dalgaard, Professor
Center for Statistics, Copenhagen Business School
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Email: pd.mes at cbs.dk  Priv: PDalgd at gmail.com