[R] R-ex directory in a R package; large software in R

[Paul Gilbert]

On Fri, 1 Feb 2002 jonathan_li at agilent.com wrote:

> A more general and related question is: how does one organize R files in a
> package? Should they all just go into pkg/R? To create a large package, this
> way of organization is not very desirable. Most of R packages seem to be
> relatively small so far. But I am hoping that some larger software can be
> built around R. Can people comment on this?

I'm not sure what you mean by large, but if you think you have more than a
single package then you should consider the bundle mechanism for grouping
packages together. Multiple packages helps you sort out the relationship between
parts of your code and also provides a good mechanism for maintaining it. Also,
if you use "make" for maintaining and testing your code, then smaller packages
provides a reasonably efficient mechanism for sorting out dependencies.

I have about 18,000 lines of R code (one of those useless measures that is often
quoted) and about 11,000 lines of documentation organized in 18 packages grouped
in three bundles (dse on CRAN, dseplus on CRAN/devel, and a bundle that I don't
distribute). I maintain it mainly for my research interests, it is a small part
of my full time job, and I also have a family. I think the reason for separating
code into packages has more to do with sorting out the logical structure of your
code than it has to do with any limitations of R. I can provide more details if
you like.

Paul Gilbert
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