[R] Large matrix into a vector

[Peter Dalgaard]

Marc Schwartz <marc_schwartz at comcast.net> writes:

> On Wed, 2007-03-28 at 19:55 -0200, Alberto Monteiro wrote:
>> Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
>> >
>> > We have already seen three solutions.
>> > 
>> > I don't like to see the use of c() for its side effects.  In this 
>> > case Marc's as.vector seems to me to be self-explanatory, and that 
>> > is a virtue in programming that is too often undervalued.
>> > 
>> I agree; but for our enlightnment, what are the side effects of
>> c()?
>> 
>> Alberto Monteiro
>
> I believe that Prof. Ripley is referring to the following, from the
> Details section in ?c:
>
>
> "c is sometimes used for its side effect of removing attributes except
> names, for example to turn an array into a vector. as.vector is a more
> intuitive way to do this, but also drops names."
>
>
> There are also examples in ?c of this behavior.

The terminology is a bit unfortunate, though. "Side effect" usually
means an effect that is not reflected in the return value of a
function, like printing, plotting, or assignment.

-- 
   O__  ---- Peter Dalgaard             Øster Farimagsgade 5, Entr.B
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