In R programming language, is there any difference between "<-" and "="?

[surfreta]

In R programming language, is there any difference between "<-" and "="?

[TheEcologist]

In R programming language, is there any difference between "<-" and "="?

I dont think so ... but lets check -> a quick look at the syntax descriptions would lead me to believe there is indeed no difference.

http://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-devel...ml/Syntax.html

[Dason]

In terms of assignment there is no difference. But note there are times when you can use the = but not <-. When you're specifying parameters inside of functions you need to use = and using <- will mess things up. I personally prefer to always use <- for assignment. That way we keep <- and = distinct (if I see a <- I know it's for assignment, if I see a = I know it's for something else). Plus if you want to do a global assign that is <-- but you can't do a global assign using =.

Also note that although I discourage the use of it you can do something like

c(1,2,3,7) -> x

and that will store that vector into x. If you use = you are forced to do a 'leftwise' assignment. Like I said I don't like to do this (at least if I'm writing a script) but it can come in handy if I compute something and have R evaluate it then realize I want to save it because you can just hit up and then add "-> var1" or whatever you want to call it.