What is an R Array?

An array in R is a multi-dimensional data structure that stores elements of the same type. Arrays can have more than two dimensions, making them a generalization of matrices. They are useful for handling data that requires more than two dimensions, such as 3D data or time series data.

# Creating a 3-dimensional array
my_array <- array(1:12, dim = c(2, 3, 2))

# Printing the array
print(my_array)

# Output:
# , , 1
#      [,1] [,2] [,3]
# [1,]    1    3    5
# [2,]    2    4    6
#
# , , 2
#      [,1] [,2] [,3]
# [1,]    7    9   11
# [2,]    8   10   12

In this example, a 3-dimensional array named my_array is created with dimensions 2x3x2, filled with numbers 1 to 12. The array has two 2×3 matrices stacked on top of each other.

Arrays are powerful for managing complex datasets in R, particularly when working with data that naturally fits into multiple dimensions.