What is an R List?

A list in R is a data structure that can store elements of different types, such as numbers, strings, vectors, matrices, and even other lists. Lists are flexible and powerful, making them suitable for complex data structures and hierarchical data.

# Creating a list with different types of elements
my_list <- list(
    numeric_element = 42,
    char_element = "Hello",
    vector_element = c(1, 2, 3),
    matrix_element = matrix(1:4, nrow = 2)
)

# Accessing elements of the list
print(my_list$numeric_element)  # Output: 42
print(my_list$char_element)     # Output: "Hello"
print(my_list$vector_element)   # Output: 1 2 3

In this example, a list named my_list is created with various types of elements, including a numeric value, a character string, a vector, and a matrix. The elements of the list can be accessed using the $ operator followed by the element’s name.

Lists are especially useful when working with data that is not uniform in type, allowing you to organize and manipulate complex datasets in R.