[R] Question about expression parser for "return" statement

[Dave DeBarr]

I've noticed that if I don't include parentheses around the intended return
value for the "return" statement, R will assume the first parenthetical
expression is the intended return value ... even if that parenthetical
expression is only part of a larger expression.

Is this intentional?

I'm guessing it is intentional; but since there is no warning about
ignoring the rest of the expression, it could lead to hard-to-find bugs.

Thanks,
Dave

Here's an example ...

dnorm(2, 0, 1)
normalDensityFunction = function(x, Mean, Variance) {
    # no parentheses surrounding the entire "return" value
    return (1/sqrt(2*pi*Variance))*exp(-(1/2)*((x - Mean)^2)/Variance)
}
normalDensityFunction(2, 0, 1)    # incorrect answer
normalDensityFunction = function(x, Mean, Variance) {
    # parentheses surrounding the entire "return" value
    return ((1/sqrt(2*pi*Variance))*exp(-(1/2)*((x - Mean)^2)/Variance))
}
normalDensityFunction(2, 0, 1)    # correct answer

	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]