R glossary

A collection of frequently used terms in the R statistical programming language.

assignment function

The sequence of characters <- used to assign values to an object.

comment

A line in your script beginning with # that won’t be executed. Used to

dataframe

Sometimes abbreviated “df,” a dataframe is R parlance for a dataset of vectors stored a list.

factor

A type of variable in a dataframe that interprets character strings into ordered numerical categories.

execute

Command your script to run a line of your code. Shortcut: CMD/CTRL + Enter

list

A set of objects that can contain things like variables or dataframes.

package

An enhancements to R that adds additional functionality to your workspace.

pipe

The sequence of characters %>% used to chain together different functions for more complex operations. Shortcut: CMD/CTRL + Shift + M

script

A file with the suffix “.R” where you write your R code.

string

A sequence of characters not interpreted as a numeric variable.

type

Definition for your variable that describes its format. For example: numeric or character.

vector

A variable.

workspace

The area in your computer’s memory where you’ll be working, and where are your data, functions, packages, etc. are loaded.