A Vector in R is basically a set of values of the same basic data type like numeric character etc. A vector in R is created using the c() function that represents a combination of elements.
I have posted basics about R Vectors in the previous post, here we'll learn more about Vector data type.
Creating a Vector in R
In R even a single value is considered as a vector of length 1, We can create a multi-element R Vector using a colon (:) like this
- #Creating a vector using a colon
- v <- (1:10)
- #Print its values
- print(v)
and output is
- [1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Create a vector using c() function
- # A Numeric Vector
- numeric_vector <- c(10, 20, 30)
- # A Character Vector
- character_vector <- c("a", "b", "c")
- # A Boolean Vector
- boolean_vector <-c(TRUE,FALSE,TRUE)
now print these vectors
- > #Print All Vectors
- > print(numeric_vector)
- [1] 10 20 30
- > print(character_vector)
- [1] "a" "b" "c"
- > print(boolean_vector)
- [1] TRUE FALSE TRUE
Accessing Vector Elements in R
Vectors in R works on the concept of the index and to access vector elements value we need to use the index, Indexing in R starts from 1 and here we'll see how to access a vector's value.
- #Define a Vector
- v <- c(10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80)
- #Get element's value using index
- a <- v[c(1,3,4,6)]
- #Print values
- print(a)
and output is
- [1] 10 30 40 60
We can also use boolean values (TRUE, FALSE) to get elements of the vector, See an example here
- #Define a Vector
- v <- c(10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80)
- #Get element's value using boolean value
- a <- v[c(TRUE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,TRUE,TRUE,FALSE,TRUE)]
- #Print values
- print(a)
and output is
- [1] 10 50 60 80
Using negative value as index removes that particular element from the result, see an example
- #Define a Vector
- v <- c(10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80)
- #Get element's value using negative index
- a <- v[c(-2,-4,-6,-8)]
- #Print values
- print(a)
and output is
- [1] 10 30 50 70
Arithmetic Operation in Vectors
We can perform variables like arithmetic operations (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Divison) in vectors too.
- #Add two vectors
- a <- c(1, 2, 3)
- b <- c(4, 5, 6)
- # Addition
- c <- a+b
- # Subtraction
- d <- a-b
- # Multiplication
- e <- a*b
- # Divison
- f <- a/b
now on printing this
- > #Print Values
- > cat("Addition",c)
- Addition 5 7 9>
- > cat("Subtraction",d)
- Subtraction -3 -3 -3>
- > cat("Multiplication",e)
- Multiplication 4 10 18>
- > cat("Divison",f)
- Divison 0.25 0.4 0.5>
Modifying a Vector in R
We can modify vector’s elements values using index and assignment operator. See this example
- #Define a Vector
- v <- c(10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80)
- #Modify 3rd element value
- v[3] <- 33;
- #Print Updated Vector
- print(v)
and output is
- [1] 10 20 33 40 50 60 70 80
Deleting a Vector in R
We can delete a vector by setting a vector to NULL.
- #Define a Vector
- v <- c(10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80)
- #Set its value to NULL
- v <- NULL
- #Print Vector
- print(v)
Cheers 🙂 Happy Learning