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Variables in the R language

R Language | Variables: In this tutorial, we are going to learn about the variables, variable declarations, variable initialization, accessing a variable, etc. in R programing language.
Submitted by Bhavya Sri Khandrika, on March 18, 2020

R Language | Variables

In the previous tutorial, we have come across the basic information that stands as a pavement for understanding the R language in depth. Now moving future let us educate ourselves about the concept of Variables that are used in the R language.

Variables are the storage places in the R language: They stay responsible for creating a memory for storing the data after they are created. The variables are so powerful that if they are changed then the result of the program will change. That means the variables are the components in the R language in which they have the capability of manipulating the program whatever we have written.

What are stored in a variable?

Every one of us is acquainted with the fact that the variables in the other programming languages also work on the same principle as that in the R language. In simple terms, we can confess that the variables act like the containers that store the data which is given by the user.

The variables in the R language are capable enough to store the atomic vector or a group of atomic vectors in them. In addition to that, they can also reserve R objects.

Syntax followed to declare a variable in the r language:

A variable name that exists to be valid should consist of numbers, letters, or dots. In addition to that one can also use the underline characters while giving a name to the variable.

But there is a strict rule in the R language which speaks about the concept I how to give a perfect name to the variable as per the conventions provided by the seniors. Whatever the name the user assigns for the variable but the name of the variable must start with a letter which should not be followed by a number. Also one can give a name with a dot at first followed by other letters.

Examples:

    var_name2 :     valid
    var_name% :     invalid
    2var_name :     invalid
    _variable_name: invalid

Variable Assignment

The general convention followed for assigning the values to the variables is by making the use of rightward, leftward, or the equal to operator. Furthermore, the value stored in ten variables can be displayed over the screen with the help of the below functions:

• print()
• cat()

The cat() function in the R language plays an important role in the process of combining various items as a part of the same or continuous output in the printing phase.

# Assignment using equal operator.
var.1 = c(0,1,2,3)           

# Assignment using leftward operator.
var.2 <- c("learn","R")   

# Assignment using rightward operator.   
c(TRUE,1) -> var.3           

print(var.1)
cat ("var.1 is ", var.1 ,"\n")
cat ("var.2 is ", var.2 ,"\n")
cat ("var.3 is ", var.3 ,"\n")

The above is the code that represents the concept of assigning the variable in the R language.

Output

[1] 0 1 2 3
var.1 is  0 1 2 3 
var.2 is  learn R 
var.3 is  1 1