FW: [R] the underscore ("_") in variable name

[Jacob Anhoj]

don't know much about programming. But I know that it is not a good idea to
assign a variable name to the name of an intrinsic constant or function. In
your example, you assign the name "c" to a variable. But "c" is already the
name of a function i R. In this way you are asking for trouble.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
[mailto:owner-r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch]On Behalf Of mohd zamri
Sent: 2. oktober 2000 08:36
To: r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch
Subject: [R] the underscore ("_") in variable name


new to R and starting to learn to program R. The underscore ("_") did some
suprising result. e.g

> c <- c(1,2,3,4,5)
> mean(c)
[1] 3
> c_mean <- mean(c)
> c
[1] 3

having some experience in C, I thought the underscore is "always" valid in
variable name. totally confuse me. Reread the R-FAQ a few times, and found
on pg. 7 foot-note which states that;

   the underscore character "_" is an alllowable synonym for the left
   pointing assignment operator "<-", ...........

it is appear that R parse  "c_mean <-  mean(c)" as "c <- mean <- mean(c)",
which explain the result.

suggestion:

I believe it would be helpful if this point be make clear on the FAQ, and
not mention as a footnote. What is a proper naming convention and a few
example of valid/invalid name for variables.

zamri
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